Three Inch Minimum
by UnoPeso22
Summary: El's been begging to see Mike for weeks after the Snowball. Hopper eventually accepts her request, leading to Mike and Eleven doing Mike and Eleven things. Of course, there is one rule. El must leave her door at least three inches open when Mike is with her. This story will explore the adventures that Mike and Eleven had between after the Snowball and before July. CANON DIVERGENCE
1. 1

**JANUARY 1 1985**

El had spent multiple weeks trying to convince Hopper to let Mike visit her. She knew it wasn't safe for her to roam around in public but it couldn't hurt for Mike to visit her every now and then. Hopper was terrified of the idea, thinking about all the things they could be doing in her room…

But Hopper couldn't deny her what she wanted after weeks of constant annoyance and begging. Hopper didn't want them to be doing relationship stuff in his cabin, but he couldn't live with himself by rejecting El and seeing her sad and lonely. As a father, he had to grant her this one request.

However, he decided to sit down with El and gave her the talk… no… not that one…

He said that El is to leave the door open at least three inches when the teenage couple are in her room.

El immediately agreed, knowing she already fought a long battle just to see Mike; she was content enough with this one rule.

Today was the day. New years. Mike wouldn't go back to school for three days. Mike still didn't like Hopper for not telling him about secretly housing El. Mike went into a deep depression and cared little about things he used to love doing for almost a year. But seeing El again and kissing her at the Snowball gave him a different attitude. He was no longer a depressed Mike; he became Bad Boy Mike.

Bad Boy Mike had started weeks ago when El cried to Mike about how Hopper wouldn't allow him to visit El. El communicated with Mike through a walkie talkie that he gave her at the end of the Snowball.

Mike went on a tangent to El about how Hopp's "an angry old man who hates people finding happiness with each other because he has none." He went on to call Hopper a piece of shit while constantly trying to convince El to sneak out of the cabin and meet him at the arcade. El was too pure to disrespect Hopper like that. She knew the consequences of going out in public was too risky at the moment.

But today was a good day for the couple. It was cloudy, but Mike couldn't tell the difference between cloudy and sunny. All his mind could think about was seeing El and talking to her….. maybe even fool around with her just to get back at Hopper.

Mike got off his bike and walked up the steps of the cabin in a hurry. He knocked on the door loudly just because he wanted to see the pissed look on Hopper's face. Hopper opened the door with the exact look that Mike had hoped to see.

"Mike," Hopper said with little enthusiasm while dressed up in a black coat and blue jeans.

"Hopper," Mike replied with same enthusiasm.

It seemed like they were about to have a western cowboy duel with the way they were intensely staring at each other.

"Well, hurry up. She's been waiting for you all day," Hopper broke the silence and stepped aside so he could give Mike room to enter the cabin.

Mike slowly entered the cabin, never breaking eye contact with Hopper. Hopper slowly closed the door while still eyeing Mike. Mike walked around and saw Eleven standing up in her room with a heart warming smile on her face. Mike stepped inside her room and shut the door, already breaking the rule. He rushed over to El and hugged her. He had a strong grip around her waist, never wanting this hug to end.

"El…"

"Mike…."

They could hear loud footsteps nearby. Already upset, Hopper opened the door and sighed.

"Three inch minimum, Mike. You see. Like this. If this door isn't at least opened this far, you've broken the rule," Hopper explains, showing Mike how open the door should be.

El told Mike about the rule beforehand, but Mike didn't care.

"Whatever," Mike replied nonchalantly.

"Whatever?" Hopper said, shocked at the balls Mike had in order to talk to him like that.

"Mike will follow the rule. Right Mike?" El said, trying to keep the tension from escalating into an all out argument.

She grabbed Mike's hand and smiled at him.

"Yeah… I will," Mike said with a grin on his face.

Hopper stared at both of them before closing the door to the appropriate length.

El and Mike held each other's hands while both taking a seat on the edge of the bed. Mike turned to her and vice versa as they both couldn't stop grinning at each other.

"El… I've missed you…"

"I've missed you too, Mike…"

As both of them stared deep into one another's eyes, it seemed like they were sharing thoughts and emotions. Mike thought she was using her powers at first.

"What...uh...What do you… like, wanna do?" Mike asked.

"I wanna be with you," El simply replied, making Mike blush.

"Here I am!" Mike jokingly raised his hand.

El would do whatever Mike wanted. Mike had returned to his usual nerdy self when he saw El's face, so now he had no idea what to do.

"I… guess we could just cuddle," Mike suggested.

"cuddling is nice," El innocently replied.

Mike laid down on his back with his head resting on her pillow. El maneuvered around Mike to get in the right position. She rested her head on his chest along with her hand. He had his arm around her. He was her protector.

They didn't talk. They didn't look at each other. They were resting, completely conscious, just enjoying the moment together. After all the bullshit they went through, they finally had peace together.

Minutes would go by. By ten minutes, El needed to talk to Mike.

"Mike…"

"Yeah?"

"You should be nice to Hopper."

"Fuck him," Mike shook his head no.

"But why?" El wondered as she looked up at him, making him look down into her eyes.

"Because, he's treating you like an inside dog. His own special pet. You deserve better," Mike said with anger.

"Inside dog?" El replied with confusion on her face.

"You know… a dog who isn't allowed to go outside? You know what a dog is, right?" Mike asked, being completely serious.

"I'm not that stupid, Mike!" El giggled and lightly slapped his chest.

Mike giggled back.

"Sorry. It's just that… we've never really had time to ourselves… besides the Snowball."

It was true. They never had time to learn more about each other, either being on the run or separated.

El could smell something weird on his body. It wasn't Mike's usual smell. She sniffed his chest, giving Mike weird feelings as his eyes widened.

"Why do you smell… magical?" El asked.

Mike chuckled at El's unique description.

"Oh….. I decided to put on perfume. It's supposed to make you smell better. You don't like it?" Mike sounded disappointed.

"I… I like you. I wanna smell you just as you are. I want you to be yourself… be…natural,"

El explained while playing with his hair.

It was obvious that El had a limited vocabulary. Hopper bought her books to get better at language. Learning basic words like natural were crucial if she was going to school this September.

"I am myself, but… I think you deserve better than me… and Hopper. You deserve a normal life."

El would cry if she couldn't get over how beautiful Mike was.

"With you, my life is perfect," El said.

"Maybe… but Hopper doesn't want you to be with me. He'd rather you sit in your room all day and do nothing. He's terrible, El. You can't stay in this cabin forever."

El was saddened by Mike's comments.

"He's doing his best… He's trying to protect me from exposing myself. He said that I can maybe go to school with you this year…"

"It's all bullshit, El."

"No!" El raised her voice, shocking Mike.

"He wouldn't lie to me. If Friends don't lie, Dads definitely don't lie!" El added on.

"OK, let's say he's not lying. He said maybe. Maybe can mean anything, El."

"Can you try not to treat Hopper bad? Just try… so we can keep seeing each other…"

Mike sighed and nodded his head yes.

"Just because you don't like it, I'll try to get better when it comes to Hopper."

El started to rub Mike's chest.

"I… don't not like it… if that makes sense. I just… don't like seeing either of you mad…… But," El sounded too shy and embarrassed to continue on.

"But what?" Mike wondered.

El shook her head, not wanting to say anything further.

"Come on. Tell me. Friend's don't lie, but they also don't keep secrets," Mike explained, trying to persuade her.

El felt forced to confess.

"When you get mad at Hopper and are bad, I… I get this weird tingly feeling. I like it for some reason. I like seeing you angry. I'm a terrible person…!" El shamefully said.

Mike started laughing. El felt like he was mocking her.

"It's not funny, Mike!"

"It's not bad, El! I mean, I guess you're confirming the stereotype that good girls like bad guys. You're just so adorable and pure, that's why I was laughing," Mike explained while twirling her hair around his finger.

"Oh. It's just that… I don't think I should be happy to see you in a bad mood. I like you in a good mood, but when you're in a bad mood, it's just different…"

"El, you're fine! I can't teach you what to feel and not feel, but like… when people like us like each other… we'll like weird things about each other.

"You're cute, but I feel like you're something more when you get that bad attitude. What's the right word?" El asked herself.

Mike wanted to help her, knowing she had language difficulties.

"I think the word you're looking for is HOT," Mike said, having a grin.

"Yes! Hot! You're hot when you're mad!" El shouted, forgetting the door was open.

Mike leaned in closer to her face. He brushed her hair back and giggled.

"And you're hot when you learn new words," Mike said.

El shook her head, not believing he was being truthful.

"No. I'm not hot like you. I'm just pretty…"

"Yeah, you're pretty, pretty hot!" Mike said, making El laugh and blush at the same time.

"No! Stop lying!" El replied, still laughing.

When she stopped laughing, the silence made them aware of how close their faces were to one another.

"I'm gonna show you how hot you are, El," Mike said, oozing with confidence.

El gulped, knowing she was too weak to even comprehend a normal response to Mike.

Mike saw this moment as the right opportunity to start kissing her. It was a long kiss, like at the snowball, but longer. They eventually broke it off but it didn't take Mike long to start kissing her again. He started doing quick smooches to her lips. El was a fast learner so she began to do the same.

They kept smooching, over and over, refusing to stop as it got more and more sloppy. Mike was amazed at the sounds their mouths were making, and El was too entranced to realize Hopper wouldn't like this. But even El had to give her mouth a break from Mike's.

They opened their eyes and it all started to sink in. They just had their first make-out session. El heard about 'making out' and even saw kids doing it at the Snowball, but she was a good girl. She didn't want to keep doing this around Hopper.

Mike closed his eyes and leaned in to continue making out with El but El leaned back. Mike's eyes opened and he had a look of disappointment when he saw El shaking her head.

"What's wrong? Am I bad at it?" Mike asked, hoping that wasn't the case.

"No."

"Then what is it?"

El pointed at the door, causing Mike to roll his eyes.

"Who cares?"

"I do, Mike. There's a reason he wants the door open. It's too keep us from doing things like this?"

Mike shook his head and started to get angry again.

"Did you like doing it though?" Mike asked.

"Well… yes… but we have to listen to Hopper. He's an adult!" El said, acting a little too innocent for Mike's taste.

"Trust me, all we're doing is kissing. If he thinks that's wrong, that's his problem."

Mike leaned in to kiss her again. She thought about it and ended up fighting the urge. She leaned away again.

"Mike… I just… don't think this is right. I like kissing you, but Hopper said no kissing and no doing any other naughty things!"

Mike thought about listening to her; he thought about accepting defeat on this, but he couldn't. He had too much love building up in his body and he simply couldn't back down.

"El, I like you… a lot. I called you for 353 days. We nearly died going through the shit we did. No disres- actually, you know what, fuck it. Disrespect intended, I'm not letting anyone tell me what I can and cannot do with you. I don't give a shit if they're an adult or one of my friends."

El started to get that tingly feeling again as she gulped.

"So here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna do whatever we want when we're together. It doesn't matter if we're cuddling or kissing or making out or awkwardly playing with each others hair like we seem to do for some reason."

El chuckled at how he went from being super confident to witty fast.

"Because dammit, El, I missed you. I don't want you to leave me again. We're doing this! And if Hopper catches us, oh well, we're just kids so it's not like he can actually do anything to me. Do we have a deal?" Mike asked.

El had never seen Mike this confident and commanding. She felt so many weird things. She wanted to say no and be a good girl for Hopper, but El knew she was ultimately Mike's girl. She couldn't say no to him, and this new attitude made him absolutely unstoppable.

"D-D-Deal," El stuttered, knowing she was about to intentionally disobey Hopper.

"Now come here, you hot telepathic girl," Mike said as he set up El on top of him.

They started making out again, each kiss getting more sloppy than the next. El had her hands on his shoulders to keep her in place. Mike had one hand resting on her back and another rubbing her leg.

El had to choose a side, and although she loved Hopper, Mike was her entire world. And she would do anything to make him happy.

The fear of being caught only made her feel more tingly and weird. Hopper was right to be hesitant about Mike visiting, because now they wouldn't be able to go a day without each other.


	2. 2

**JANUARY 2 1985**

It was early in the morning. As soon as Mike woke up, he fixed himself some cereal and ate it in a hurry. He then took a two minute shower. After that, he brushed his teeth and got dressed in a sweater and black pants. He thought about putting perfume on but refused this time, knowing El likes him 'natural.'

He looked in the mirror of his bathroom and fixed his hair before going downstairs. His mom woke up and followed him downstairs. Halfway down the stairs, she rubbed her eyes and saw Mike all dressed up so early. She couldn't believe it initially.

"Mike? Why are you up so early?" Karen asked.

"I gotta make the most of this vacation time, Mom."

"It's just that the arcade isn't open for another hour or so. It's 6:30 in the morning, son," Karen reminded him, thinking he had to be confused.

"You're always telling me that I should be getting out more instead of playing my Atari but when I actually wanna get out and explore, you wanna question me?"

Mike always knew how to talk his way out of everything.

Karen sighed and rubbed her eyes before yawning.

"It's not that, I just- you know what? Forget it. Have a good day, Michael. I love you. I'm going back to bed," Karen walked back up the stairs.

"Love you too!" Mike shouted before leaving the house and getting on his bike.

He peddled quickly to the cabin and was there in about five minutes.

He absolutely knew Hopper and El were both still sleeping, but he didn't care. He wanted to see El. He slowly opened the door to the cabin, trying his best to avoid making it creak too loud. Mike tip-toed his way to El's room before slowly opening the door. El was sleeping on her side.

El had a pillow that she rested her head on, and a pillow next to her where she had her walkie talkie. She was always prepared for Mike to call her. Luckily, Mike brought his walkie with him. He got down on the floor in front of the bed where she couldn't see him. Mike felt like pranking her for some reason. Maybe he had the morning giddiness and wanted to do something different.

He did a countdown in his head on when he was gonna talk into the walkie.

3…...2…...1……

"El! El! I'm in trouble. Please, you gotta help me!!" Mike said through the walkie, sounding like he was about to die.

"MIKE!" El screamed and immediately jumped to her feet.

She grabbed the walkie from her pillow and started talking back.

"Mike, where are you? What's happening?!" El asked, very worried about her boyfriend.

She started walking to the door when she turned her head and saw a shocked Mike on the floor.

He saw tears already dripping from her eyes. That's when he knew he fucked up. He stood up immediately and hugged her. El dropped her walkie talkie on the floor, too emotionally upset at what was happening.

"Mike?! Why are you… What are you doing?! Why did you say you were in trouble?!" El said during the hug, sounding broken.

"I… I thought it would be a funny prank. I didn't think you'd cry…"

"NO. Losing you isn't funny, Mike. I don't know if I'll be able to live without you," El said while slowly regaining her composure from hugging Mike.

"I'm sorry, El. I'll make it up to you," Mike said, looking devastated at what he had done to her.

They broke away from the hug. El grabbed both of his cheeks and smiled.

"You've already made it up to me by being here," El replied.

"No. I was being immature… and a mouth breather. You don't deserve that, El. I promise, I'll make it up to you," Mike swore to her while brushing her hair back.

"OK, if you say so. But since you're here, you wanna get under the covers with me? It's a little chilly," El said, having a mischievous grin on her face.

"Funny, for some reason, I just got chills while looking at your beautiful smile," Mike replied and jumped in her bed.

El laughed out loud before joining in beside him under the covers. They held each other's hands which were under the covers. They both felt warm, safe, content, and complete. Nothing in the world could stop them when they were together. Not even The Mind Flayer.

"God, you're so pretty, El," Mike said as he blushed just by looking at her.

El didn't look what she considers her best. She had red and white striped pajamas on, messy hair, and just got done crying. She just realized that Mike was seeing her like this.

"Oh, no. I'm not pretty right now. I'm so ugly, Mike. I don't want you to see me like this. Please, don't look at me!" El said as she grabbed one of her pillows and attempted to hide her face.

Mike snatched the pillow from her face immediately and caught her off guard by pecking her on the lips. Mike's lips on hers calmed her down real quick.

Mike couldn't help but chuckle at El's face.

"You look… exquisite. You know what exquisite means?" Mike asked El, almost testing her.

El twirled with her hair.

"Um, I hope it's something good," El replied.

"It's another word for beautiful. I'm gonna teach you all the different synonyms for Beautiful because I want you to know every time when I call you one of those words, that means you're beautiful. Because you are."

"El was blushing so hard, her face turned red.

"Does.. synonym mean… like… two words meaning the same thing?" El said.

"Yeah! You're gonna be a natural in English!" Mike joked.

"I told you. I'm gonna be ready for school before you know it!" El said with pride.

"I never thought a girl getting educated would be so hot!" Mike said, making El giggle.

"I can't believe I made out with a nerd yesterday!" El joked, starting to pick up Mike's sense of humor.

"Hey!" Mike replied.

He took the covers off of her in protest.

"Mike! Give them back!" El said as she tugged on the covers, but Mike was naturally too strong.

El took the easy way out and used her powers to snatch the covers from his hands and back onto her.

"Hey! That's cheating!" Mike shouted.

He was lucky that Hopper is a heavy sleeper.

El stuck her tongue out at Mike, her nose slightly bleeding.

"Seriously, stop. I hate it when I see your nose bleeding."

El saw the serious expression on his face and stopped. He wiped the blood from her nose and wiped his hand on her covers.

"Mike!" El was annoyed but couldn't stay annoyed for long.

They started kissing each other. It's almost like electrical currents in their brain crossed with each other and they both responded at the same time. They held on to both of their hands while sitting with their legs crossed. Each kiss felt unique and it kept getting better as they lost track of time. Mike felt something poking in his pants, trying to get out.

He broke off the kiss and panicked.

"Oh shit-shit-shit-shit!" Mike got out of her bed and grabbed one of her pillows to hide his crotch area.

"What are you doing?" El asked, curious as to what's making him act strange.

"I-uh, nothing. Something happened that wasn't supposed to happen, that's all you gotta know," Mike said.

"What is it?" El asked, oblivious to what he could be talking about.

"Don't worry about it!" Mike immediately replied, wanting his erection to die down.

"Mike… friends don't keep secrets. Remember?"

Mike had to accept defeat this time. He's the one who gave her that rule. He couldn't break it now. Thankfully his erection was gone and he tossed the pillow back on the bed and lied down.

"I… had an erection…"

"What… is that?"

"Down there, I have this body part between my legs called a penis. All boys do. When a boy gets excited from a girl… such as yourself, the penis can get… hard…"

"Hard?" El was still confused.

"Like… physically hard. Jesus, help me out here," Mike said while looking up above, hoping some divine force would hear him and intervene.

"So boys have penises? What do girls have then."

"El. Can we just talk about this at another time. I'm really not in the mood to explain all this stuff this early."

El reluctantly nodded her head and cuddled up to Mike, resting her head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry for asking too many questions, Mike," El said, sounding sincere.

"You're alright, El. It's just we're too young for that type of stuff anyway. And I came to spend time with you, not teach you… things…"

"OK. I understand. Let's talk about something else then."

The teenage couple went silent for a long minute, unable to think of something during that time frame.

"Do you know when Hopper goes to work?" Mike asked.

"Well its the weekend so he doesn't go until the afternoon."

"Perfect!"

"Why?" El replied.

"Well. I was hoping you could come to the arcade today. You don't have to stay long. Maybe just an hour. We can play air hockey and cheesy arcade games," Mike said, sounding happy.

"Mike…"

"And everyone misses you. They all want to see you. Dustin, Lucas, Will, even Max wants you to be with us!" Mike continued on.

"Mike!"

Mike sighed in defeat.

"I know…… You can't go. It's too risky!" Mike immediately got depressed.

El put a hand on his chest and started to rub it.

"I want to go. I want to be with you, with everyone. Tell them I miss them so much. But you know there's still people out there. And I don't want to risk everything by going to the arcade…"

"Yeah. I understand," Mike softly said, already feeling down.

"Cheer up! I'm gonna be able to do those kinds of things soon," El smiled at him.

He could never stay sad when looking at her smile.

"I just woke up really early, hoping, having so much positivity, just hoping… that you'd say yes. But I knew deep down inside that it would always be no. I'm sorry for even asking, El. Your safety is way more important."

"No, I'm sorry, Mike. You deserve better than me. You should… get a girl who can actually go out to places with you. I'm… useless," El said, wanting to cry.

"No! I'm not losing you…"

Mike kissed her forehead while putting his hand through her hair.

"Damn, El. Sometimes I feel like you're using your powers to trick me because the more I look at you, the prettier you get."

"What if I don't want to be pretty anymore? Maybe I want to be hot," El gave Mike a dirty smirk.

"OK, you keep on talking dirty like that, I'm gonna have to punish you!" Mike teased.

"Punishment from Mike Wheeler is a reward for me," El replied with a grin.

"Alright, seriously, El. Stop before I get that erection thing again."

"OH, sorry," El immediately broke her flirtatious character.

Mike and El started smooching again. During the smooching, El grabbed him by the neck, wanting to feel his Adams apple.

Mike realized she could kill him if she wanted to, and that made it even hotter.

The morning kept going on. Before they knew it, it was 8:00 AM. Mike looked at his watch and got up.

"Are you going already?" El asked, feeling disappointed.

"Yeah, promised the gang that I'd meet up with them around 8:00."

"Screw it, now I'm going," El said, making Mike's eyes light up with excitement.

"Really?!"

"No, silly."

"Then why did you say that? Why get my hopes up?" Mike said, feeling hurt.

"It was for what happened earlier this morning, remember?" El said.

"Yeah. I guess I deserved that. I'll see ya later, El. Bye-"

Mike started to walk out of her room but was frozen in place immediately. He could still move his head though. He turned back to look at El who was holding his walkie talkie.

"Forgetting something?" El said with a grin on her face.

She unfroze Mike, allowing him to walk back to her.

He grabbed the walkie from her and kissed her cheek.

"Get some sleep. Keep studying, okay? You're making really good progress!" Mike encouraged her.

"I know," El said, starting to get a little confidence from Mike.

Mike gave El one last kiss before leaving her be.

_2 hours later_

Mike was using the bathroom in the arcade. He got done and flushed the toilet. He went to the sink to wash his hands and dried them off afterwards. He decided now was the right time to pull his walkie talkie out and try to communicate with El real quick.

"El. I don't know if you can hear me. I wish you were here though. I'd imagine you kicking Max's butt in air hockey. I just imagine you playing all these games with me… with a big smile on your face. I… this is silly. I'm talking to myself…"

Mike put away the walkie and was about to leave the bathroom.

"Mike," he heard her on the channel and pulled out his walkie again.

"Yeah, El?"

"Do you… do you think I'll be able to meet your parents one day? Like, once all of this is over?"

Mike didn't answer immediately. He didn't know to be honest.

"I would like to think that day would come. Why do you ask?"

"Because…. When I meet them, I'm gonna tell them how alluring, appealing, charming, cute, dazzling, delightful, elegant, exquisite, good-looking, gorgeous, handsome, lovely, marvelous, and pretty their son is."

Mike started giggling and blushing.

"Dammit, El. I was supposed to tell you those things!" Mike teased her.

"Find your own synonyms, nerd!" El laughed after striking back.

"You already know I will. I'll talk to you later, K?"

"Alright. Talk to you later." El replied.

Why was Mike feeling so bubbly right now…

No other girl could make him feel this way. And all she did was say a bunch of synonyms of beautiful. It would seem stupid to some other person, but Mike felt his heart growing with each synonym.

He felt like the luckiest boy in the world. He couldn't wait till tomorrow to see her again.


	3. 3

**JANUARY 3 1985**

It was another day with El… in her room… with the door opened at least three inches...

Mike had arrived late, but better than never as it was 6:21 PM now. Hopper was sitting in his recliner; he could basically hear anything important that they might be doing.

They were cuddling, with El resting her head on his shoulder as he held his arm around her. Mike was tired from helping his parents clean out the garage. He had to visit El to get that bubbly feeling on a terrible day.

"Mike…"

"Yeah?"

"I want to learn more about your body part. What is it called again? Penus?"

Mike's eyes widened as he looked at the door, hoping Hopper didn't hear her.

"We really can't talk about this right now, El. Jesus. Hopper could hear us!" Mike whispered.

"Is penis bad?" El casually asked.

"El, please shut up!" Mike whispered again, getting more and more irritated the more she says the P word.

"I didn't know it was bad to say that word!" El felt bad about irritating Mike. He never told her to shut up before.

"I'm sorry, El. I… My body part and your body parts are not important right now. That's grown up stuff. So we really shouldn't talk about that. Plus, if Hopper hears that I've been talking to you about my penis, he might actually kill me," Mike whispered, hoping El would get the message.

"OK. I'm sorry too," El nodded her head and smiled.

They enjoyed the silence, knowing they couldn't talk about much without Hopper hearing them. Mike was the bad boy a couple days ago, but actually having someone potentially listening in on personal conversations is hard to get used to.

"El."

"Yeah?"

"Maybe some time I can bring a tennis ball over. We can go outside and throw it against the cabin and try to catch it when it comes back to us. No cheating with your powers though," Mike said, making El laugh.

"I miss the outside. I miss our friends," El said, getting sadder by the moment.

"I know…"

"No, Mike….. I don't think you do know," El kissed Mike's neck, trying to balance her sadness.

"For over a year, most of my time has been spent sitting in this cabin, thinking about what I'm gonna do in the real world if I can get out of here. I'm scared, Mike. The more I think, the more terrifying the idea becomes. What if I'm not meant for the real world? What if… I'm just a freak experiment gone wrong that should stay away from everyone?" El said as she started to cry.

Mike embraced her with a hug, wanting the crying to stop immediately or else he would start crying.

"No…. El….. You're not a freak. You're awesome. You've saved the world. Not many people can say that?" Mike replied, but it was not enough to stop El from crying.

"I don't want to save the world. I want to be a normal kid," El was bawling her eyes out now.

The crying got so loud that Hopper could hear it over the TV playing. He walked to her door and opened it all the way to find the scene.

"What's going on? What did you do to El?" Hopper asked Mike, thinking Mike must of said something that crossed the line.

"What did I do? More like look at what you're doing!" Mike fired back with uncontrollable anger.

Still crying, El decided to jump in to the conversation.

"Mike, please don't…"

Mike took her words to heart. He couldn't yell at Hopper in front of her, knowing it would only make things worse.

"Let's go outside," Mike said to Hopper.

Hopper nodded his head and they both walked outside, getting a good distance away from the cabin so El couldn't hear. They stood face to face. Well, Mike had to look up at him but he wasn't intimidated at the moment. He was fighting for El's freedom.

"Look, man, you and I both know this isn't gonna work," Mike said.

"Is that how you talk to your elders? Look, man? So disrespectful!"

"Maybe I am being disrespectful, but the fact is you and I both know she doesn't deserve this. The more she stays in this cabin, the worse her depression will get. Let her go outside and talk to her friends!" Mike demanded.

"You know that's impossible, Mike!" Hopper said, understandably not wanting to risk her safety.

"Bullshit! She's mentally breaking down from living in a tiny wooden house in the middle of nowhere all day! She doesn't deserve this!" Mike sounded hurt the more he talked about her pain.

"YOU THINK I WANT HER TO BE SAD?!" Hopper snapped, his face turning red.

Mike initially jumped back when hearing Hopper abruptly yell.

"I FUCKING LOVE THAT KID! I LOVE HER SO MUCH, AND IT PAINS ME TO SEE HER LIKE THAT! BUT SOMEONE HAS TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR HER AND TRUST ME WHEN I SAY, IT'S NOT EASY!"

Mike was stunned. He was speechless.

"YOU THINK YOU KNOW WHAT'S BEST FOR HER CAUSE YOU'RE HER LITTLE BOYFRIEND?! WELL COME ON. TELL ME. WHAT SHOULD SHE DO?!" Hopper challenged Mike to come up with a solution.

Initially being speechless, Mike was put on the spot and started thinking about anything that she could do that wouldn't put her in jeopardy.

"OK…...Just…….. Just……… Just let her get out. We won't take her to any public places with a lot of people. Hawkins is usually empty in a lot of areas anyway. Just please, let her feel what it's like to be a normal kid. Because it hurts me to see her cry like that…"

Hopper had both hands on his hips, contemplating whether or not Mike just came up with a good plan.

He did.

Hopper sighed, shaking his head and rubbing his face.

"OK. It's a deal," Hopper agreed.

"Really?!" Mike replied in a shocked tone.

"Yes. But you're not taking her to the arcade, not in any restaurants or businesses, not anywhere near that new mall that they're building, and you better not keep her in the middle of the town for too long so everyone can get a good look at her. You got that?"

"Yeah," Mike said, scratching the back of his head.

"Yeah what?"

Mike huffed, not wanting to treat Hopper with much respect.

"Yeeah… sirrrr," Mike said, almost sounding sarcastic.

"Damn, right. Now let's get back inside before El thinks I killed ya," Hopper joked.

"Yeah, like you could kill me," Mike mumbled.

Hopper turned around immediately.

"What was that?" Hopper asked with a grin.

"Nothing…"

"That's what I thought."

Once they got back inside, El was in her bed looking at her feet. Mike walked back into the room with a big smile and lied down beside her.

"Hey! Got some good news!" Mike said.

El magically started smiling when she looked at Mike.

"I heard," El giggled.

"How did you- ….. Oh. that's right. Powers! How could I forget!" Mike said, slapping his forehead.

"Mike."

"What is it?"

"I'm glad I have you."

"Believe me, I don't know what you would do just having Hopper around!" Mike joked.

"So. When can I go out?" El asked.

"Well, I go back to school tomorrow. Maybe next weekend? Would that be cool?"

"That seems like a long time!" El replied, not knowing if she could make it that far.

"It'll be here before you know it. You better not be a bad girl until then!" Mike teased.

El giggled as she started to lean in and make out with him. Mike felt like he really accomplished something. Making Hopper listen to him was something he thought would never happen. El held on to Mike's cheeks for dear life as she constantly kept smooching his lips. He was smooching back but he couldn't help but think about her actually being outside with the gang again.

Not realizing what he was doing, he moved his hand down her back and instinctively grabbed one of her buttocks.

El stopped engaging in the kissing but still had her lips connected to Mike's. Her eyes opened wide and she began to feel more weird about what he was doing. He was rubbing his hand on her buttocks. He noticed El wasn't kissing back anymore. He broke off the kiss and opened his eyes to find El frozen in a state of shock.

He wondered why she was acting like this, until he looked down and noticed where he had his hand. He quickly removed it from her area and got up, afraid that she might hate him now.

"Oh Geez. Geez, I'm sorry, that wasn't supposed to happen!"

"It's fine, Mike," El said.

"No. That was very inappropriate and it won't happen again!" Mike exclaimed.

El stood up and put her hands on his shoulders.

"I didn't mind. It was… different. But if you don't feel… com-for-ta-ble, then you don't have to do it anymore," El said, then proceeded to kiss Mike's nose.

The kiss on his nose left him stuck with a goofy smile on his face.

"I…. I overreact sometimes. I'm new to this whole relationship thing… and I don't want to seem like I wanna do something that I don't wanna do? Understand maybe?"

"Not really, but you're cute when you're nervous," El laughed, making Mike blush.

Hopper entered the room, causing both of them to turn their heads to him.

"Alright, it's getting late, Mike. Time to go back home. And El, you're doing great with your english but you need to get better at your math," Hopper said.

"I'm trying... "

"I can help her!" Mike insisted with a huge grin.

"Maybe you can but not right now. Alright. Come on. Get moving," Hopper ordered.

"Goodbye, Mike."

"Bye, El," Mike embraced her in a goodbye hug.

"See you this weekend, yeah?" Mike said.

"Yeah. Can't wait," El replied, giving one of those weird looks to Mike that made him go crazy.


	4. 4

**JANUARY 8 1985**

"Mike… where are you? Didn't school end 30 minutes ago? I got all dressed up and you're not here!" El told Mike through the walkie talkie.

El waited five days for this particular moment. Mike was finally gonna take her out into the world thanks to the deal he made with Hopper.

But here she was, sitting on the steps outside the cabin, patiently waiting for her boyfriend.

"Mike… are you there? Hello? Is this even working anymore?!" El said, feeling irritated while doubting the walkie talkies productivity.

"El? I hear you. We were waiting on Lucas and Max, but we decided that they can catch up. We'll be there in a couple minutes, OK?"

"Alright!" El replied, taking a breath of fresh air.

A couple of minutes later and the whole gang arrived besides Lucas and Max. Once they all got off their bikes, El ran up to Mike like her life depended on it. She jumped into Mike's arms and they enjoyed a romantic hug.

"Awww, the two lovebirds are back together," Dustin said, teasing both Mike and Eleven.

El giggled, already missing Dustin's constant jokes.

She broke off the hug with Mike and hugged Dustin.

"I missed you, Dustin."

All of the sudden, Dustin wasn't so funny anymore, too bewildered by the amount of passion El was showing him with a hug.

"I… missed you too, El. Really."

They released from the hug and El smiled at him again.

Mike walked over to Will and thought it would be nice to introduce Will to her.

"El, this is Will. You saw him at the Snowball… and obviously in the upside down."

Will shrugged off the comment and extended a hand out, wanting to shake El's.

"Nice to meet you, Eleven. I've heard a lot of things about you from Mike!"

El looked at Will and casually smiled, then looked down at his hand like it was a different species.

El didn't know what he was trying to do. Instead of a handshake, she caught Will off guard by hugging him tight.

"I'm glad we can finally talk to each other, Will!" El sounded so happy to be around her friends again.

Will felt awkward but toughed it out and got through the hug. He looked over to Mike who had a goofy smile on his face.

El put both hands on Dustin and Will's shoulders who were standing side by side.

"Friends!" El sighed happily and closed her eyes to enjoy this day of freedom.

Dustin and Will both looked at each other and shook their heads like something was wrong with Eleven.

All four of them engaged in a group hug.

They were interrupted by a screaming Lucas accompanied by Max riding her own bike.

"You guys! You guys!" Lucas shouted as he quickly stopped to get off his bike.

"What?"

"There's a Karate Champ tournament at the arcade next weekend! Entry fee is $15!" Lucas said as Max also got off her bike.

"So?" Dustin replied, wondering why this was so important.

"So?! So Mike and I have been training for this moment for months! Get this. Whoever wins the tournament gets $300!"

Lucas got Mike's interest with that statement. Mike walked over to Lucas, almost not believing the words coming out of his mouth.

"$300 to win a tournament of Karate Champ?! And it's only $15 to enter? I must be dreaming."

In the middle of Mike confessing his amazement, Lucas noticed El standing behind him and couldn't ignore it.

"El!' Lucas walked up to El and embraced her with his own hug.

"Lucas! You're all here!" El said in a dreamy tone while rubbing Lucas' hair during the hug, which slightly annoyed Max.

"We should go enter the tourney, man!" Mike pleaded to Lucas.

"Already did. There are a couple of spots left. You better go now while you have the chance."

"Shit. OK, OK."

Mike fast walked to his bike, making the others get back on theirs. El just stood there beside Mike who was sitting on his bike, confused as to where they were going.

"Mike?"

"What is it, El?"

"I'm going to the arcade?"

"Huh? No. I'm just gonna enter the tournament. I'm gonna make a stop at my house and ask my mom for money first."

"Oh. OK. Good luck, then," El said, feeling defeated as she began to walk back into the cabin until Mike stopped her with his voice.

"El, what are you doing?!"

"I can't go to the arcade, remember?"

Mike nodded his head.

"Yeah, I know. You can just wait outside the arcade, no big deal. Won't take long. Now get on!" Mike pat the space behind him for her to sit down on.

El got on behind him. She turned her head to Lucas who was beside her and smiled. El placed her hands on Mike's hips as he peddled his way to the house.

It didn't take long for him to collect the money. He got in and got out. Then they made it to the arcade.

They all parked their bikes and stood up, except for El. Mike needed to reassure her that this wasn't gonna take long.

"Look, El. I promise I'm gonna be in and out. Then we'll figure out where to go. Just wait here, K?"

"OK," El said, being a little shy around all the cars and people.

El felt so weird… all alone and exposed in the town of Hawkins. She felt paranoid and kept turning her head to the left and right, making sure the bad men weren't on to her.

Mike kept his word and entered the tournament as fast as humanly possible, then got out.

As everyone got back on their bikes, Mike stood by his bike and stared at Eleven. Eleven looked confused.

"OK, guys I haven't told any of you this yet… but… we have a problem."

"Oh, shit," Dustin said.

"What kind of problem?" Lucas asked.

"We can't take El anywhere with a high profile," Mike explained.

"Then what do we do?" Will asked.

"I don't know. Maybe we can go to that place about a mile away with the huge field and just chill for a while."

"Chill in January? Come on, Mike!" Dustin replied, not wanting to leave the arcade.

"Come on. For El, let's just do it!" Mike pleaded with everyone.

"Mike's right. It's actually sunny and warm for it being January and all. Let's go," Lucas said.

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement except Dustin.

Dustin eventually caved in when he saw everyone riding their bikes away from him and followed their lead.

When they made it to the huge grassy area, they got off their bikes and set them down on the grass. They started walking around the huge field. They started walking together for a couple of minutes before splitting up into pairs so that the couples could have some private time together. Lucas went with Max, Eleven went with Mike, and Will went with Dustin.

It was a little chilly, but the sun was out and it felt great.

Mike and El were holding hands as they walked through the field together. They started swinging their arms back and forth with their hands connected. She was finally outside, away from the horrors of the cabin for at least a few hours.

Mike noticed something unusual about what happened earlier when they first met up. He had to bring it up to El.

"Uh. El?"

"Yes?"

"I noticed back at the cabin, you forgot to say hi to Max."

"Did I?" El did a terrible job at acting.

"Yeah. Do you still have something against her because you thought she liked me?" Mike asked.

El felt ashamed of having a lot of negative feelings for Max. She knew Mike wouldn't want her to hold a grudge but she couldn't help herself.

"I saw the way she flirted with you in the gym. I don't hate her. I know she's with Lucas now. But I'm not stupid, Mike. I could tell she liked you."

"How? She was just being friendly!" Mike replied, strangely coming to Max's defense.

"I just know."

Mike shook his head and decided to sit his butt down on the grass. El followed and sat down beside him.

"I'm telling you, El. You don't have to like her, but you can't keep holding this grudge. She's with Lucas now. Whatever intentions you think she had in the past is over now."

El always listened to Mike. At the end of the day, he was the one keeping her together, so she had to really think about it.

"I… I guess… that… maybe"

El was saying each word really slow as Mike kept nodding his head, wanting her to get it out of her system.

"Maybe…I've…. Maybe I've been a little mean. I'm sorry, Mike."

Mike chuckled.

"Don't say it to me, say it to Max."

El's eyes widened with fear. Mike immediately knew she was frightened of apologizing to Max and tried to cool her down.

"Whenever you have the time… whenever it feels like the right time. No pressure."

El still felt scared about the idea but Mike was able to settle her down a bit.

"OK…"

El wanted to think about something else quick.

"What's a tournament, Mike?"

"Oh, that's when people compete against each other in something. But there's like a bunch of other people in it and multiple rounds. Let's just say it's for people who want the ultimate competition," Mike passionately explained.

El nodded her head, barely understanding him.

"Right…"

"I know it sounds complicated, but it's simple really."

"I wanna watch you… at the tournament. I want to cheer you on, Mike," El said, giving Mike a heart warming smile.

Mike kissed her hand while holding it.

"I want you to be there too. But you know the rules."

"Now you sound like Hopper," El replied and giggled.

"Hey, he's the one who has the ultimate say in things."

"What happened to doing whatever we want?" El had a smirk on her face.

"In the cabin. Not out in the real world. I can't risk losing you, El…"

"No! I want to go!" El shouted.

Mike was startled by El's sudden anger.

"Just talk to Hopper. Maybe he'll allow you to go just one time."

"Maybe," El agreed.

They hung out for another two hours before taking El back to the cabin. They all said their goodbyes to El. While the boys were having a heated debate about something, El walked over to Max who was on her bike.

"Hi," Eleven awkwardly said.

"Hey?" Max said, sounding equally as uncomfortable.

"I just wanted to say… sorry for treating you bad. Mike told me to not have any grudges so I won't. I hope we can be good to each other," El had a sincere smile on her face.

Max felt somewhat relieved. She thought El walked over to her so she could snap her neck.

"Yeah, definitely. I'm sorry for whatever you hated me for," Max said.

"Bye, Max…"

"Goodbye, Eleven."


	5. 5

**JANUARY 9 1985**

It was noon on a Saturday. Usually Mike would be at El's by now, but he told her beforehand that he was practicing for the tournament next weekend. She understood. El didn't understand the tournament concept in its entirety, but she understood that Mike could really use her support.

She walked out of her room after having a long talk with Mike about the tournament; he kept on telling her too much about it and it was about to overload her brain.

She saw Hopper eating bacon and eggs at the table. She thought now was the right time to ask him since he wasn't in a bad mood.

El slowly walked over to Hopper, taking step after step, until finally sitting in front of him.

Hopper was trying to ignore her and enjoy his food. El let out an intentional cough, forcing him to give her his full attention.

"Something you need help with?" Hopper asked, curious to what she wants this time.

"I wanna go to the arcade next weekend," El said without breathing.

"Absolutely not," Hopper immediately replied, sounding casual.

"Why? Just one day. That's all I ask!" El said with a desperate tone in her voice.

"I knew this would happen…"

"What?"

"I knew that as soon as I let Mike start visiting, you'd become more entitled and ask for more things. It's exactly the thing I feared. Now you're gonna annoy me to go to the arcade. Next week you'll wanna stay over at Mike's and meet his parents. It's a slippery slope that'll never end. So no."

El didn't like hearing the word 'no' from Hopper's mouth. It made her feel inferior; it also made it seem like he was out to get her and make her sad. El was too set on seeing Mike win the tournament to take no for an answer.

"I. Want. To. Go!" El said, pouting at Hopper.

"Why? What's so important about going to the arcade next weekend?" Hopper wondered as he continued to eat his eggs.

"Mike is in a tournament. If he wins 1st place he gets three-hun-dread dollars. He wants me to be there and support him. And I want to support him."

"How romantic," Hopper replied, not taking her request seriously.

"So… I can go?" El said, confused from his sarcastic reply.

"NO, EL. You can't. It sounds like this tournament is gonna go on for hours and hours in front of a huge group of people. That's not a safe place for you. You know this. No. You can't go."

"NO!" El shouted, her face turning red with anger.

"Young lady, you better quit with the attitude before I decide that Mike shouldn't visit you today…"

"You wouldn't…"

Hopper gave her a wicked smile.

"Oh, I sure would."

El wanted to break his plate with her powers, but she refrained. She stood up in anger.

"UGGHGGHGH!" El Growled and walked to the fridge.

She looked for her daily eggos meal that kept her sane along with Mike. Only problem is she couldn't find them.

"Where are the eggos?" El asked, panicking on the inside.

"Oh shoot! I think I forgot to get some more last night. Sorry, I'll get them Monday."

El slowly shut the fridge and looked at Hopper with crazy eyes.

"M-Monday? That's… like… two days from now."

"Yeah? And?"

"I can't wait that long!" El shouted, getting ready to break.

"There's other food in this cabin, kid. Your taste buds are gonna change soon. Might as well get a head start and eat something besides eggos."

"NO!" El yelled, wanting to scream her lungs out.

"Don't talk back to me!" Hopper ordered her.

El's anger was about to turn into tears.

"This is fucking bullshit!" El said.

"HEY! LANGUAGE!"

She'd been rubbing off the bad language from the boys, but especially this new Mike, who had been dropping the F bomb a lot recently.

El ran into her room and slammed the door shut with her powers. She didn't hesitate to grab her walkie talkie and call for Mike.

"Mike… I know you are probably busy… but get back to me whenever you can," El said, sounding like she was gonna cry.

Mike was in the middle of a game with Lucas when he heard her apparently crying. He went into the arcade's bathroom and called back to her.

"El?! What's wrong? I'm here!"

"Hopper said I can't go to the arcade next weekend," El said as she officially started crying.

Mike let out a sad sigh.

"Yeah. That sucks. I mean, what do you expect though? He's an unhappy asshole," Mike said, making El chuckle.

"He sure is," El replied, slowly getting in her bed and wanting to sleep to get away from her prison.

"El. I don't know what you want me to say…"  
"Don't say anything then, Mike! Because I don't have anything. I don't have you, I don't have freedom, I don't have my eggos because the unhappy asshole forgot to get them last night! I have nothing. I'm a loser!" El said, completely hating her life at the moment.

"Please don't start, El. You're not a loser. Look, I'll be over in, like, an hour. No need to be sad when you're so beautiful."

El stopped crying when she heard that and her face lit up.

"OK. I'll see you soon, Mike."

"See ya soon, El!"

An hour later, Mike knocked on the cabin door and Hopper opened it.

"Loverboy's here!" Hopper said, having a grin on his face while looking down at Mike.

Mike was holding a box of eggos that he took from his house. He didn't want to say anything to Hopper; he just wanted to see El right away.

"Come on in, then. She's in her room."

Mike quickly walked to her room and opened the door.

"Surprise! Got'cha a gift!" Mike said, holding the box of eggos up to his chest.

"EGGOS!" El shouted and jumped out of bed to hug Mike.

She snatched the box of eggos from Mike after the hug, eliciting a chuckle from Mike.

"I'm getting really good at Karate Champ. I'm feeling good about the tournament!" Mike sounded happy and confident.

El threw the box of eggos on her bed and pecked Mike on the lips.

"That's good! I know you will win!" El said, trying to boost his confidence.

"You're such an amazing girlfriend!" Mike said.

Mike picked El up, making El squeal as she naturally wrapped her legs around his waist. Mike wasn't the same Mike from the Snowball. He was still skinny, but he grew a couple inches; El liked that he was so much taller than her. It made her feel safe from anything bad in her life.

El saw that the door was open all the way and closed it according to Hopper's rules.

"Tell me, El. Do you wanna kiss me?" Mike asked, having a sly grin.

"Mike-"

"No-no-no, Tell me, yes or no, do you want to kiss me?" Mike asked again, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"Yes!" El answered with so much enthusiasm.

"What's the magic word?"

"I… I don't know."

Mike giggled at how pure El was.

"OK. I'll tell you just this once. It's Eggos. Now say the magic word if you wanna kiss me."

"Can't I just kiss you without saying it?" El asked, not understanding the submissive game he was playing with her.

"No. You want my precious lips, you gotta say the magic word," Mike said, causing El to laugh out loud.

"Fine. Eggos!"

El wasted no time diving into his mouth. They were roughly attacking each others mouths. It was definitely the most aggressive make-out session yet for them. Mike pinned her against the wall and continued smooching her. El had no problem being dominated by Mike like this. She would do more for him if he wanted. To El, she belonged to Mike and only Mike.

"HEY! What do you two think you're doing?!" An angry Hopper marched into their room.

Out of panic, Mike tossed El onto her bed and tried to act nonchalant.

"We're doing nothing sir. Nothing at all," Mike said as he tried to fix his hair.

El was adjusting her clothing and hair as Hopper shamefully stared at them.

"I don't ever wanna see you holding El up like that in this cabin ever again. We clear?!"

Mike didn't answer. He didn't feel like answering.

"Yes. We're clear!" El said with a huge smile on her face.

"What a big man you are, Mike. Letting El talk for you? No respect," Hopper shook his head and walked out of the room.

Mike shook his head and turned to face Eleven who was lying in bed.

"I told you. We can do whatever we want in the cabin," Mike said as they both exchanged smirks.

Mike got in bed beside Eleven and they started kissing again.

In the middle of the make-out session, Mike moved his head down to her neck and started planting kisses to that area.

"OOh, Mike, that feels so good!" El moaned, not hiding her joy or being shy about it anymore.

Mike took pride in hearing that.

"I'm glad you like it. I gotta be careful though or else I could give you a hickey."

"A hickey?"

"It's a bruise on the skin from kissing or sucking on it too hard." Mike explained, only making El feel more weird and tingly.

"D-D-Does it hurt?"

"From what I know, not really."

Mike went back to smooching her neck. All El could do was moan and grab a handful of his hair.

"Woo-oowww! This feels so different!" El said as she started to lose her mind over how good it felt.

"If you're a good girl and guess the magic word on your first try from now on, I'll be sure to keep doing this."

El moaned and nodded her head.

"I-I'll be a good girl! I swear!" El replied, sounding so innocent and sweet.

"I know you will. You're my girl, aren't ya?" Mike asked.

"Yes! All yours!" El immediately said, too weak to acknowledge how submissive she was being.

"Good."

Mike grabbed El's cheek and stared into her eyes. He gave her one last kiss.

When he leaned away, it felt like El just broke out of a spell cast on her by Mike. She didn't mind though.

"Wow. That was… amazing," El said.

"Jesus, I can't believe I just did that," Mike laughed to himself.

"I don't know what came over me there," Mike added on.

"Whatever it was, I liked it," El said with a dirty grin on her face.


	6. 6

**JANUARY 10 1985**

The more El kept seeing Mike, the more anxious she got about seeing him again. Her feelings were getting out of control the more she thought about him while alone in her room. She wanted Mike to spend all day with her before the weekend ends, but she also realized that Mike had to practice for the tournament next weekend.

El still felt like she was about to cry when she thought about the tournament, knowing Hopper wouldn't let her go. Still, she had hope that Hopper could possibly change his mind.

It was 6:53 PM and already dark out. Hopper was watching TV and eating chips in the other room while El lied in bed… waiting to hear Mike talk over the walkie.

"El?" Mike came in through the channel.

El immediately sat up and prepared to talk to Mike.

"Mike?!" El said through the walkie-talkie.

"Sorry I took so much time. I got caught up practicing against so many people."

"I….. It's okay," El said, not sounding satisfied.

Mike hesitated to respond as he couldn't help but hear the depressing tone in her voice.

"Are you mad at me?" Mike asked.

"Huh? No. I… don't think I can get mad at you. I just… I feel lonely when you're not around."

"Oh…"

"I'm stuck here… waiting to hear something from you. That's the best part of my day…"

"Well, seeing you have been the best moments in my entire life, El. I'm trying to keep you happy, El. It's just… hard. "

Mike sighed as he realized how hard maintaining a healthy relationship was.

"I'll be there in like twenty minutes, alright?" Mike said.

"Okay. See you soon."

"See ya."

Just a little over twenty minutes later, Mike barged into El's room with a big smile on his face.

El freaked out as she got out of bed and used all her energy hugging Mike. They released from the hug and Mike held a photograph up for El to see.

"I gotcha something."

El grabbed the photograph from Mike's hands and carefully analyzed it. What she saw naturally brought happiness to her face.

"This… is a photo of you… in your… ghostbusters outfit? Why give it to me?" El asked, not feeling worthy enough to accept a photo of Mike from Mike himself.

"Well, you always talk about how you're lonely and the best part of your day is me. So I'm giving you this picture because: 1. I hate it and don't need it, and 2. It can give you something to look at while you're lonely. I don't know……. Maybe it'll make you feel better. I know that I'd feel better staring at a photo of you if I was bored in my room," Mike explained, sounding kind of awkward as he made a lot of hand gestures.

El smiled at Mike and looked down to study the picture once more. She quickly noticed the difference between the Mike in the picture and the Mike in her room, and how couldn't she? She was the one that memorized every freckle on his face, every typical facial expression he makes, every mannerism he does. El thought that he was too beautiful to not be studied.

"You look… so… little," El said in amazement.

"Yeah. Just had my growth spurt last month, it was crazy."

"Growth spurt?"

"It's this thing that comes with growing up. We get taller and our voices get deeper, especially boys…"

Eleven had to take in what he said before she got freaked out at the concept.

"But… I don't want you to get taller! What if you get too big for me?!" El worried.

Mike laughed at how pure she still was and shook his head.

"No, don't worry. I'm not gonna get super tall… at least I don't think I will. Look, just don't worry, I'm never gonna get too big for you," Mike replied, giving her a reassuring nod.

"Promise?" El looked at him with heart eyes.

"Definitely, I promise," Mike nodded his head and smiled as he smooched her on the lips.

They pushed each other onto her bed and started making out while El still held the photo with one hand. She was on top of him now as they continued attacking each others mouths. She grabbed the hair on the back of his head with her other hand and went deeper into her kisses.

"Ow, ow, OW, OW," Mike groaned as he felt El's leg crushing his crotch area.

She stopped kissing him when he lightly moved her leg to the side and let out a sigh of relief.

"You hurt?" El asked, confused on the type of pain Mike was feeling.

"Um… it's nothing really," Mike tried to brush it off with a fake chuckle.

"Was I hurting your pee-nus? I didn't mean to."

Mike's eyes widened, not wanting her to utter that word ever again.

"It was just a little too much pressure on it than I could handle…. And please, don't say that when Hopper's right by us, please," Mike pleaded to El.

El nodded her head, realizing her mistake.

"I'm sorry."

El looked at the photo in her hand again. The photo of Mike in the ghostbusters outfit kept making her smile the more she looked it.

While looking at the photo, El instinctively caressed Mike's cheek, making him blush.

"You really like that photo, huh?" Mike teased her, eliciting a chuckle from El.

"It has you in it. Why wouldn't I like it," El replied.

"El…"

"Yeah?"

"When we were separated for 353 days… did you like… visit me and stuff..?"

El seemed confused by the question, wondering what Mike was trying to get at.

"Yes. I visited you almost everyday."

"Ever catch me doing anything… like… embarrassing?!" Mike asked, sincerely concerned she might of seen him doing something weird.

"Um. I don't know.."

El tried to think of anything weird Mike had done when she would randomly visit him.

"I can't think of anything………. OH… wait, I might of caught you pooping a couple times," El said as Mike made a look of disgust.

"That's it?" Mike replied.

"Now that I think about it… no. I remember visiting you while you were in the shower. I loved looking at your wet hair… but you're… I think it's your pee-nus….. I couldn't stop looking at it. It looked so odd…"

Mike looked like he was about to die.

"Oh god, you saw it?! You saw my penis?!" Mike covered his face with both hands.

He thought that maybe if he avoided eye contact, the conversation would magically stop.

"I did. I don't see the big deal or why it's so bad. How's it different from any other body part?" El asked.

Mike sighed, still having his face covered.

"It just is, El. There are some body parts that are not meant to be shown. The… you know… is one of them."

El looked embarrassed herself, not knowing basic biology. But it wasn't her fault.

"Oh. Okay…"

El looked away from Mike and down at the precious photo of him again.

"You still have this ghostbuster outfit?" El asked as she showed him the photo and pointed at the outfit.

Mike nodded his head but raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, why you ask?"

"I was wondering if… well… if you want to, you could give it to me…"

"Why do you want it though?" Mike wondered.

"It's something nice to remember you by. I remember trying to convince Hopper to let me go trick or treating that night as a ghost. I wanted you to bust me…"

Mike didn't get it initially but quickly figured it out.

"Oh, because I'm a ghost buster!" Mike said, then he snapped his fingers like he just solved a hard puzzle.

"Yes!" El nodded her head as she wrapped her arms around Mike's neck.

"I'll give you the outfit. I don't really fit in it anymore anyway."

Mike kissed El's cheek, making her grin with her eyes closed for a split second.

"To be honest, you'd probably look really hot in that outfit," Mike said with a wide grin.

"Maybe…"

El tapped her finger on his chest and smiled at him as she started to get a tingly feeling again.

"I want to be a ghost-buster girl…… Your ghost buster girl…"

"You already are," Mike replied, having a goofy smile, unable to blink at the moment.

They both shared heart warming smiles and smooched each others lips for about a minute. El broke up the kiss, wanting something else.

"Mike?"

"Yeah?"

"Eggos," El said with a mischievous smile.

Mike was flustered at first with his eyes wide and his mouth open. Then he got the most excited look that he's ever gotten.

"My pleasure," Mike casually said and started kissing her neck.


	7. 7

**JANUARY 15 1985**

El thought she could make Hopper see some sense about the arcade tournament. Well, tomorrow was gonna be the day that Mike would compete and Hopper hasn't changed his mind. El thought about her options; she thought about how easy it would be to disobey him and threaten him with her powers. But Hopper taught her better than that. She's too respectful, too innocent to do that.

El walked outside the cabin with a tennis ball that Hopper had bought after she heard Mike talk about throwing one against the cabin and catching it when it comes back to them. She was alone though because it was morning and Mike was still at school.

She walked to one of the side corners of the cabin and started throwing the ball against the wood wall. She failed to catch it the first time, barely caught it the second time, failed to catch a third time, and failed to catch it a fourth time. El grunted with anger built up and threw the ball against the wall as hard as she could.

"What's the point of this?!" El said, having a negative outlook without Mike along her side to help her.

Hopper was at the station so she didn't have to act respectfully right now. El walked back inside the cabin and ate some eggos. Then she spent the next two hours watching her morning soap operas. Watching her SOAPS have been the only consistent thing about her life.

Then she looked at her math books, her English books sitting on a table and sighed, not wanting to learn anything today. But regardless, she got up and started learning more about the English language for thirty minutes. Then she tried to understand the math for thirty minutes but was still struggling.

"El?" Mike said through the walkie that was in her room.

She ran to her room and slammed the door shut with her powers, then grabbed the walkie with excitement on her face.

"Mike!"

"El!" Mike tried to sound as excited as she did.

"I tried the tennis ball thing…"

"Yeah. And how was it?"

"Hard and boring. I don't see how that is fun."

Mike let out a chuckle.

"There are things that aren't for everyone. What else have you been doing?" Mike asked.

"Learning… eating… watching…… the usual," El said in a tired tone.

"El….. Um….. You know Valentine's Day is less than a month away?" Mike asked, feeling nervous about bringing up such a thing to a clueless El.

"Valentine's Day? What is that?" El asked.

"It's on February 14th each year. It's like…… It's like… uh… a special day where people who… like, like each other go on dates or get each other presents and cards."

"Date?"

"Like… when two people who like each other go somewhere to spend time together… I guess," Mike let out an awkward cough.

"Oh…… I like you, Mike. Should we date?" El innocently asked.

That one question sent chills down Mike's spine.

"I… I don't know…. I-I-I mean…. If you'd want to, I-Uh, that would be cool.. But like… no pressure," Mike forcefully laughed, almost sweating through his clothes.

"Yes. We go date," El said.

"Right… I mean, where would we go though?"

"Anywhere away from here," El replied, being completely serious.

_5 hours later_

It started raining as Mike came inside the cabin, having his clothes a little wet along with his hair. El licked her lips at the sight. He sat down on her bed and tried to fix his hair; El sat down beside him and intentionally messed it up again just to see the look on his face.

Mike's hair was covering his eyes now as he turned to El and smiled. El laughed out loud and kissed him while pushing his hair back up so she could see his eyes.

El caressed both of his cheeks and bit her lip.

"Your eyes. Pretty," El said in a soft tone before kissing him again.

"I missed you this entire week, El," Mike said as he broke off the kiss and held onto her hands.

"I did too, Mike."

Mike stood up and grabbed the tennis ball off the floor. He held up for El to see while grinning.

"Let's play catch with it outside. You know, just keep on throwing it back and forth to each other," Mike suggested.

El looked up at him, unsure whether he was being serious or not.

"It's raining," El replied.

Mike shrugged his shoulders and pulled El up to her feet.

"And?"

"We'll get wet," El simply said.

"Are you telling me the great Eleven is afraid of getting a little wet?" Mike teased.

"Um. No?" El said, entirely confused.

"Then let's go. Come on."

Mike grabbed her hand and started to lead her outside.

Hopper saw them going out the door and stopped them with his voice?

"Where are you two going?" Hopper asked, making them turn around to face him.

"Just outside to throw the tennis ball," Mike said.

"It's raining…"

"So?" El replied, picking up the careless attitude from Mike.

Hopper nodded his head.

"OK. shoot yourself," Hopper said.

Mike and El looked at each other, then ran out of the cabin into the pouring rain. They were already soaked. The rain had really picked up when Mike entered the cabin earlier.

Mike ordered El to stay where she was as he ran back a good distance. He threw the tennis ball at her and she dropped it.

"Come on, butter fingers, catch it!" Mike had to yell through the sound of heavy rain.

"I'M TRYING!" El said, irritated with not being able to catch a stupid tennis ball.

El threw the ball to Mike but it didn't quite reach him as it rolled to his feet.

Mike threw the ball to her again. El dropped it again. Mike sighed.

El picked it up and threw it to Mike. Mike was able to catch it, although he had to run forward to get to it.

"Alright, let's raise the stakes!" Mike said.

"What?"

They were both completely soaked. El found his wet hair to be so enthralling. He looked so different, yet so hot.

"If you don't catch this, you have to let me kiss you. If you do catch it, I'll get undressed and only wear my underwear. Deal?" Mike asked.

El licked her lips and smirked at him. She couldn't refuse a deal like that.

"Deal!"

Mike threw the ball and it was about to hit El's hands. But then the ball froze mid air right before it made contact with her. She simply reached her hand out and grabbed it, then wiped the blood from her nose. Mike understandably was mad.

"That's cheating!" Mike said.

"You never said I couldn't use my powers," El replied, finding the loophole.

Mike looked down at the ground in shame. He didn't think he'd lose the bet based off El's catching skills. He decided to own up to it though; he looked up at El and nodded.

He took off his shirt, then his shoes, then his pants. Now all he was wearing were underwear and socks.

El couldn't stop herself from giggling at how ridiculous and cute Mike looked.

"You happy?!" Mike said.

El nodded her head yes. She was laughing at first, until she realized how wet his body was. She could see his chest, his stomach, his legs. She could even see an outline of a particular body part through his underwear.

She stopped looking at the area, knowing it was bad news based on Mike's talks with her.

His whole body was shivering in the cold rain, but he didn't care. He walked over to a fully clothed Eleven who had heart eyes at the moment and grabbed her hand, softly kissing it.

"Since you cheated, maybe you can give me a little something," Mike said while smirking and tilting his head in a flirtatious way.

El eyed up his entire body before putting a hand on his chest.

"Hmmm. You have been good. Maybe you do deserve… kiss," El said.

She leaned in and smooched him. Mike started kissing back as it became a battle of supremacy. He was trying his best to avoid touching her body with his crotch area.

"WHAT IN GOD'S NAME ARE YOU TWO DOING?!" Hopper yelled, standing on the porch of the cabin.

El's eyes widened out of fear as she looked at Hopper, however Mike was just awkwardly smiling.

"EL, GET IN HERE AND GET DRIED OFF NOW!" Hopper ordered, making El immediately run into the cabin.

"AND MIKE….. PUT YOUR DAMN CLOTHES ON AND GET OUT OF MY SIGHT! JESUS, WHAT AM I GONNA DO WITH YOU TWO?!" Hopper shouted one last time before slamming the door shut on Mike.

Mike felt amazing. He truly was invincible when it came to Hopper. Because Mike knows that Hopper knows how important Mike is to El. He wouldn't do anything to harm Mike, so why wouldn't Mike take exciting risks for El?

Mike got dressed up in his soaked clothes and peddled back to his house, thinking about the big tournament tomorrow.


	8. 8 Part 1

**JANUARY 16 1985**

El was in a terrible mood. Mike's tournament was gonna start in less than two hours and she was forced to stay in the cabin. Not even looking at his ghost busters photo could calm her. She was pacing around her room, worrying about how she would survive a Saturday without Mike.

Hopper suddenly barged into her room, fully dressed in his uniform as he smiled at her.

"Hey, kid," Hopper said.

"Hi," El said, showing no emotion.

"I've been running behind on some work so I'm gonna stay at the station for a while. Probably won't be home until 10:00."

El's eyes lit up.

"Oh…"

"Yeah. I just wanna make sure that you're good here? You don't need anything, right?" Hopper asked, showing concern.

"No…. I'm fine," El said, trying to play it cool.

Hopper stared her down, looking for something wrong with her, but he couldn't.

"... Alright. Well I gotta go now. I'll see ya tonight, okay. Maybe we can watch a scary movie when I get home? If you want?" Hopper asked.

"OK…"

Hopper bent down and kissed the crown of her head.

"See ya later, kiddo," Hopper said as he leaned back up in his normal posture.

El smiled and embraced him with a hug. Hopper hugged back with just one arm around her.

"Be safe," El said, sounding sincere.

"I'll try…"

El released the hug and Hopper quickly ran out of the cabin.

El walked to the porch outside and watched Hopper drive off as she waved him goodbye.

When Hopper was out of sight, El ran into the cabin and grabbed the walkie from her room.

"Mike.. are you there?" El asked, sounding giddy.

She waited for him to pick up. He eventually did.

"El? Is something wrong?"

"No. I just thought I should let you know that Hopper won't be at the cabin until 10:00."

"Uh. Okay. And?" Mike replied, clueless to what she could be getting at.

"And you're the one who's been telling me to sneak out. How about I meet you at the arcade in an… hour or so?" El said, smiling over the phone.

Mike was flustered. First of all, when he told her to sneak out, he never really meant it. He usually just said it out of anger because of something Hopper said or did to her that day. But now was his chance to have El there with him, supporting him during this big event.

"I don't know. If Hopper finds out, he'll be pissed. And… and… I don't know if you should risk your safety just to see me in a tournament," Mike replied.

El didn't expect him to be so hesitant about it; she expected an immediate yes.

"I know you're worr-ied about me, but I'll be fine. It's just one day, Mike."

"Right. Just one day couldn't hurt," Mike said, but still had a questionable tone in his voice.

"So I can come?" El asked.

"Look, El…. I'm not gonna tell you what to do. The fact is… I really want you to see me… but I also know what Hopper would want. I'm not gonna make that decision for you; that's up to you, El," Mike explained.

El didn't waste any time responding.

"I'll be there soon. See you there."

"See ya there, El."

El got cleaned up and ready to see Mike as quick as she could. She spent ten minutes trying to make her hair perfect for Mike, then she left the cabin and walked all the way to the arcade.

By the time she made it to the arcade, the tournament was less than thirty minutes away from starting. She stood still in front of the door entrance to the arcade. El closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then she opened the door and went inside.

The place looked incredible to her. Eleven vividly noticed the difference between the dull cabin and the colorful arcade. Not only was it colorful, all the games were making unique sounds that she never heard before, causing her to open her mouth wide in awe.

After initially looking around the arcade to get a good look, she noticed a big crowd of people huddled up together, so she went to them.

She heard a man shouting at the group.

"Alright. First round goes as follows: Marsh vs Anderson, then Sinclair vs Brown, Davis vs Stewart, Jones vs Morgan, Cooper vs Adams, Turner vs Edwards, Stevens vs Kennedy, then finally, Hamilton vs Wheeler. You guys get that?"

All the boys nodded their heads, including her boyfriend, Mike, who she was able to spot during the man's rambling.

"Remember, when we call you up, you have to show up on stage within the first minute, or else you're disqualified. Since the fights are so short, we're doing a best of 7 games. The tournament starts at 1:00 PM which is around twenty minutes from now. Good luck, gentlemen. Be prepared and ready. Also, good luck again."

The man walked away from the group of boys. Mike and Lucas got together afterwards and started talking. El felt too shy to confront them at first, knowing she wasn't supposed to be there. But she wasn't gonna let this moment pass her by. She took courageous steps in order to get closer to them.

"Mike," El said softly, catching the attention of the two boys.

Mike suddenly got a huge smile on his face as he hugged Eleven.

"El! You came!"

"I did."

Mike was unable to wipe the smile from his face, realizing that he had his favorite person in the world in his favorite place in the world.

"You should play a game El," Lucas suggested.

"Game? What kind of game?" El asked with a look of curiosity.

"A good game to start off with would be Pac-Man. Right Mike?"

Mike nodded his head.

"Yeah. Pac-Man is easy but fun. I think you'd like it."

"But… I came here to watch you in the tournament?" El said, feeling confused.

Mike and Lucas exchanged glances at each other before smirking.

"Yeah, I know. It's just that the tournament doesn't start for another twenty minutes or so. You should………. Just follow me," Mike said while grabbing her hand.

El let him take her wherever he wanted to go. He stopped at a yellow arcade machine that said Pac-Man at the top of it. El looked astonished at seeing such a colorful thing, but she was even more amazed by the screen she was looking at.

"See. This game right here. You just insert quarters down here, then you play," Mike said as he pulled a couple of quarters out of his pocket and stuck them into the machine.

"Quarters? Like… money?" El asked, wanting to know more.

"Yeah, money comes in different forms, like dollar bills, quarters, pennies, nickels, and whatever else I don't really want to name off right now," Mike explained as he couldn't stop smiling at El's face of confusion, which reminded him of how pure she was.

"Oh," was all El could say to that.

"How do I play?" El asked as she looked at the game, then back to Mike.

"It's easy. You just… well, you just eat all the dots while also trying to avoid touching the enemies chasing after you. You start with three lives, and you lose a life when the enemy touches you.

"Okay…"

Mike still noticed how lost she looked.

"Why don't I just show you. It'll be easier."

Mike started the game up and El's eyes immediately widened.

"Oh. I see. You get all the dots?" El leaned her head on Mike's shoulder as she watched him play the arcade game.

Mike felt flustered from the physical attention she was showing him but didn't lose concentration on the game

"Yeah….. You have to watch out for the enemies though. If they touch you, you die"

"I don't want to die," El said, making Mike chuckle.

"Exactly, so run away from them at all times."

As he played, she kept looking at his determined face. El got that tingly feeling again from just looking at his face. When she focused back on the game, she noticed something odd.

"What is that big dot?" El asked.

"Oh, that? When you run into it, it gives you a limited amount of time to where the enemies can't kill you, and you can even eat them!"

El laughed at how intense Mike made that sound, and she found him very cute at that moment.

Mike completed the first level, then stepped aside and signaled for El to play with.

"Alright. Show me what you got, El," Mike said.

El was still shy and didn't know exactly what to do.

"Just grab this and flick it in the direction you want the yellow guy to go," Mike said while moving the joystick around as a demonstration to Eleven.

"O-Ok," El nervously said as she slowly walked up to the machine and put her hand on the joystick.

The round just started as soon as she grabbed it which caught her off guard. She panicked, not knowing how to react.

"Oh, no. No. Where do I go?" El asked.

"Go down, El! Get away from the ghosts!" Mike shouted, making El even more nervous.

El got caught fifteen seconds into the game, then got caught again within the next twenty seconds, then she finally got the game over screen twenty seconds afterwards.

After losing, she gave Mike a frustrated look.

"That's hard!" El said.

"Yeah. It's your first time, you'll get better. Here, take these quarters and put them in your pocket."

Mike grabbed a handful of quarters out of his pocket and put them in El's open hand. She did as Mike said and put the quarters in her pocket.

"Alright, El. I gotta get ready. See ya," Mike started to walk away but a panicked El made him stop.

"MIKE!"

"Yeah?!"

"Why are you leaving? The tournament doesn't start for another ten minutes and I heard you go last in the first round?"

Mike walked back up to her and grabbed her hands.

"Trust me, El. There's no better way I'd like to spend my Saturday than playing games with you, but… I have to really have my head in this tournament if I want to win. There's a lot of money on the line, and I have to be prepared and focused. Do you understand?" Mike asked.

El nodded her head yes but still looked sad about it.

"Don't worry. When it's over, we'll spend the rest of the day doing whatever you want, alright?" Mike replied, making El slowly bring her smile back as she nodded her head again.

"You better win," El said as she made Mike chuckle.

She gave him a kiss on the cheek for motivation.

"Go and win!" El said with enthusiasm.

Mike had a huge goofy smile on his face. He put his fingers in her hair, making her blush hard.

"Guess I have to win now," Mike said, then he pecked her on the lips.

El was shocked that he would just kiss her like that in a public place like the arcade.

They both nodded their heads, then Mike walked back to Lucas.

El spent the next several minutes playing Pac-Man, trying to get better at it. By her fourth attempt she was able to beat three levels in a row. Just as she was starting to really get into it, she hears someone talking into the microphone.

"It's time for the Karate Champ tournament. The first round is starting now with…. Marsh vs Anderson. Hurry on up."

El watched as a crowd gathered around the open area where the tournament was taking place. She saw serious looks on Lucas and Mike's faces. The first match started and everyone got really silent. El wanted to go back to playing Pac-Man, but the unusual silence in the arcade made it too awkward to start up a game. The first game ended.

"Anderson wins! He goes on to the second round. Next up, Sinclair vs Brown."

Lucas nervously walked up to the machine and glanced at his opponent beside him. Lucas started off bad but ended up winning.

"Sinclair wins!"

El started to get bored of just watching random people playing and decided to play more Pac-Man. She got to level 5 this time before getting the game over screen. The matches started to fly by.

"Davis wins!"

"Jones wins!"

"Adams wins!"

"Turner wins!"

"Stevens wins!"

But all it took was one last name to snap her out of her Pac-Man craze.

"Alright, final match of the first round. Hamilton vs Wheeler, let's go boys."

El stopped playing in the middle of a game, not caring about wasting quarters; Mike was much more important than Pac-Man.

She gathered around the already packed crowd. She didn't remember it being this packed; 5x the people must of came in when she was busy playing Pac-Man.

Mike was standing by the machine. His opponent offered to shake hands. Mike hesitated before awkwardly laughing and accepting his handshake.

El couldn't stop herself from shouting something to Mike.

"MIKE!! YOU CAN DO IT!!"

Mike turned his head and gave El a thumbs up.

"Young lady, settle down and be quiet so the competitors can concentrate!" The man in charge of the tournament said.

"SORRY!" El shouted again.

The game started. Mike was having no problem beating up this Hamilton guy. Hamilton raged as he kept losing. He would eventually get swept 4 - 0.

"Wheeler wins! We're gonna have a 15 minute intermission before we start the quarter-finals. Intermission starts now."

Mike got a wide smile when he won, but refrained from yelling of joy. He shook Hamilton's hand and ran to El.

"Did you see that?! I won!" Mike said with excitement.

"You did. But you still have more, right?" El said, still not knowing exactly how a tournament works.

"Well, yeah, but the way I won that match….. I freaking destroyed him! You see how angry he got?!" Mike asked as he made El giggle.

"Keep it up!" El caressed his cheek and started smooching him on the lips.

Mike was too shocked to kiss back at first, but he returned the smooches.

El and Mike broke up the make out fest after a minute or so, unable to get the silly smiles off their faces.

"Are you gonna do that every time I win?!" Mike asked.

"I came here to motivate you."

"That is some damn good motivation, not gonna lie," Mike said, making El laugh.

"Go get ready for the next round," El said while running her hand through his hair.

Mike nodded his head and gave her a kiss on her forehead, then he returned back to Lucas.

The tournament went on. El would take turns between playing Pac-Man and actually paying attention when Mike and Lucas were playing. Lucas beat Anderson to move on to the Semi-Finals. Jones beat Davis, Turner beat Adams, and Wheeler beat Stevens.

The Semi-Finals had a more intense feeling to it. Lucas and Jones were tied 3 - 3. This last game would be it. Lucas ended up missing a kick and taking the loss.

"SHIT! SHIT! SHIT!" Lucas shouted as he started hitting the machine out of anger.

"HEY! WE only have one of those so STOP!" The man running the tournament said.

"Sorry."

Lucas shook his head in shame while walking up to Mike.

"That dude Jones! He's unreal. He must of spent months and months playing this game!" Lucas frustratingly explained to Mike.

"You mean like us?" Mike replied.

"Well, yeah, but still!"

Mike took care of Stevens pretty quick, beating him 4 - 1.

It was the finals. Mike and Jones were in an intense battle as it was tied 3 - 3 after Mike managed to win two games in a row.

"COME ON, MIKE! YOU CAN DO IT!!!" El shouted, annoying the people running the tournament.

"YOUNG LADY, PLEASE, BE QUIET!"

El nodded her head and laughed at how angry they were getting.

The last game started. Mike was playing very conservative, not taking any chances. It felt like the match was going on forever. Then something happened.

"What the? I can't move my joystick!" Jones shouted, unable to physically move the joystick.

Mike took a quick glance at Jones, knowing he had to take advantage of this opportunity. He hit a final blow to Jones. The crowd started cheering.

"Congratulations, Mike Wheeler! You've won the tournament and have officially won $300!"

"THAT'S MY BEST FRIEND!" Lucas shouted while pointing at Mike.

Mike, too happy and in the moment, looked at El to see what she what her face would look like. She had a bloody nose and quickly wiped the blood off when Mike locked eyes with her.

At that moment, he knew. It was too convenient with the joystick not working for Jones and all. El had to have helped… and he couldn't exactly be mad right now; he just won $300! But it lingered in the back of his head for the rest of the day. It got so annoying that Mike decided to leave the arcade just an hour after winning. El was confused by the way he was acting. When she rode with him back to the cabin, she lay down in bed and pat the empty spot beside her, welcoming Mike to join her. Mike couldn't hold back any longer.

"El," Mike said as he rubbed his forehead and sighed.

"Yes?"

"Did you… did you… help me win the last game?" Mike asked, not wanting to believe she would do that but definitely knew it was the case.

Eleven remembered the motto: Friends Don't Lie. She didn't lie. Instead, she remained silent and got a scared look on her face.

"I…. I… I…. I just wanted to help," El finally said in a soft voice.

"I didn't need help!" Mike raised his voice a little while shaking his head.

"I just…. I knew how hard you worked to get that far and I didn't want you to lose…"

"El, I don't care. I wanted to win fairly. What you did was so uncool! I don't need you to constantly use your powers to help me!" Mike said as his voice kept getting louder.

"Mike…"

"NO, Don't 'Mike' Me! You think I can't fight my own battles?!"

"What?!"

"I SAID DO YOU THINK I CAN'T FIGHT MY OWN BATTLES? YOU THINK I'M A PUSSY?!" Mike yelled.

"No," El quietly replied, scared of how angry he was getting.

"WELL IT SURE DOES LOOK LIKE YOU THINK I CAN'T HANDLE MYSELF!"

El wasn't used to Mike being so angry. She started crying, which immediately silenced Mike and caused him to regret everything.

"El?! Please don't cry…"

As El sat on the edge of the bed, Mike walked up to El as he looked down at her.

El couldn't stop. She was sobbing so bad, Mike had to hug her to calm her down just a little bit. She was crying into his chest.

"I'm sorry. I'm so stupid, I can't do anything right," El said into his chest, her voice being muffled.

"No. I'm sorry. I shouldn't of yelled at you like that. I just… I don't want you to fight my battles when it isn't necessary. You're still the most important thing to me in the world!"

"You lie," El said, refusing to stop crying as she looked up into his eyes

"I don't. Friends don't lie. You are beautiful. I shouldn't of yelled at you like that. It was over the line and I'm sorry…"

"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't of helped you win. You could of won it yourself.."

Mike gave her a beautiful smile that she would never get tired of looking at. He put his hand on her face and wiped the remaining tears from her eyes.

Mike and Eleven shared one of their most passionate kisses yet. Mike picked up Eleven and she naturally wrapped her legs around his waist. She grabbed his face a little too roughly for his taste and he couldn't stop kissing her, couldn't stop loving her after making her sad. He wanted to make sure that she was his number one priority in life.

Mike threw her on to the bed, making El squeal before giggling afterwards.

Mike jumped on the bed and stared at her, appreciating her gorgeous smile. He always realized how lucky he was, to meet a girl as perfect as El.

Mike leaned in for some more make-out action, but El wanted to get something off her chest.

"Mike?"

Mike opened his eyes and awkwardly leaned back.

"Uh, yeah?"

"There's something that's been on my mind for awhile. I... I haven't told anyone about it besides Hopp since it happened."

"What is it?" Mike asked, being legitimately curious.

"It's about Mama…"


	9. 8 Part 2

**JANUARY 16 1985**

For the next thirty minutes, Eleven told Mike about her visit to her Mom's house and also about her adventures in Chicago. He didn't interrupt, he didn't ask questions during the story; he just let her talk and explain herself.

Mike forgot he was in El's room, too enthralled with her long story. He knew she never talked so much before, so he had to listen to every word.

El almost choked up a few times while talking about certain things, but Mike had this aura of calmness that resonated with her, so she was able to get through the story without breaking down in tears.

She was almost done. El just needed to say a few more things to close out the story.

"And then I realized… that life in Chicago meant nothing. There was no hope there with Kali and her crew. I remembered how happy I was in Hawkins with you……….. With Hopper……. With our friends."

El sighed as she shook her head, trying to stop herself from crying.

"You were all in trouble. You were screaming to get through. I was so scared, so hurt, so lost. I was trying to find out who I am, where I fit in all of this. I realized that I was being stupid and selfish. I left the only people who ever cared about me, who helped me… and you all almost died because of it. I belong with you and Hopp in Hawkins. This is my home. And…. I think that's everything I have to say..…"

Mike didn't take his eyes off of hers. He couldn't respond right away, how could anyone? She just spilled her heart and soul out to him and he didn't know what to say, not even knowing where to start.

He looked around her room, sighing while shaking his head. He scratched the itch off of his face while reflecting about everything she had just told him. A minute of silence had gone by when he finally said something.

"El…………….. I…………….. This is………………….. Why……….. Why didn't………. Why didn't you tell me this earlier?!" Mike asked.

"I didn't think you'd want to know…"

"OF COURSE I do! I don't want you hiding important stuff from me like that. You can tell me anything, El. Anything," Mike said, having a smile.

"Yes. I know. But I wanted to move on from those memories. But… I couldn't hold it from you any longer. I'm sorry, Mike," El was truly sorry for not telling him sooner.

"It's alright. I totally understand. We all have dark memories that we don't want to share. But I'm glad you feel comfortable enough to tell me these things. It really means a lot to me, El."

El rubbed her hand through his hair and softly smiled at him. He was always so understanding and polite to her at all the right moments.

"You mean a lot to me," El replied as both of them blushed.

Mike had thought of something to ask her about.

"Your mom? She's still alive, but she's like… uh, what's the right word? Vegetative state? She just kept on remembering the moment that she saw you and when the badmen did all that stuff?"

El nodded her head yes.

"That's sad. I wish she could see how great you turned out… well she can see you, but you know what I mean," Mike said, carefully thinking about his words.

"I mean it, El. She would be so happy to see you here… safe... "

Mike held her hand to comfort her.

Eleven's heart loved hearing Mike say that with his memorable smile. El had to restrain herself from jumping on top of Mike for a make-out session.

Mike had a look of anger slowly creep onto his face. He thought about her mother some more and what happened to her. He was visibly upset and disgusted.

"El. If I ever……. If I ever see that grey-haired fuck again, I'm gonna kill him myself and spare you the pain of even looking at that son of a bitch"

El could see his angry eyes and by the tone of his voice, she knew he wasn't bluffing. He would kill Brenner for her.

"If… he's alive," El added in.

"Yeah. Well, like you said, the guy that worked for Brenner said he's alive. How convincing did he sound?" Mike asked.

"Con-vin-cing?" El confusingly replied, not being that familiar with the word.

"Like…. Believable? Did you believe him when he said that Brenner is alive?"

El took her time to answer, thinking about the feelings she had at that particular moment.

"No. I didn't believe him at first. I… I swear that he died in the school. The Demogorgon killed him, I thought. But the more the man went on about him……... he said he could take me to him. I don't know why he would lie about that. He sounded… very con-vin-cing," El explained as she nodded her head yes.

"Then I guess he has to be. Somehow, someway, he made it out of that school alive. Who the fuck knows where he is, what he's thinking, what he's planning. Fuck. This isn't good!"

Mike nervously rubbed his hair, afraid that something bad could happen to Eleven again. Eleven hated seeing him so worried, so concerned.

The terrible PTSD flashbacks appeared in his mind. It would happen every so often when Eleven would cry or be in a bad mood, he would think back to that day in the classroom. Two words he never wanted to hear again: "Goodbye Mike."

El saw that Mike's nervousness was beginning to turn into a full blown panic attack. She put both hands on his face which automatically stopped his fast breathing and directed his eyes to hers.

"Mike. We're fine now. We can be together now. And… even if he does come for me, even if the monsters somehow come back… I can kill them. All of them. I've done it twice now."

Mike's voice kept breaking and he felt like he was gonna break down trying to get this paragraph out of his mouth.

"You don't understand, El. I know that you'll fight them, I know that you'll kick their ass, I know that you'll risk your life for me, for our friends. But… But… when you left me at the cabin to close the gate, I had the most sickening feeling in my stomach, like I wasn't gonna be with you, like that would be my last time speaking to you, looking at you. That's my biggest fear… ever. I can't lose you. I don't want to have that feeling again. I need you here in my arms. I need you to be safe with me…"

Her eyes watered on instinct after hearing him explain his biggest fear to her. El's tears were more of the happy kind, knowing how much she meant to him. He didn't just look at her as a pretty girl with superpowers; he actually cared about her.

"That's my biggest fear too. But I know that if I didn't stop that Demogorgon in that classroom, you would die. If I didn't leave you and close the gate, you would die… and so would everyone else. I get that sickening feeling too, Mike. When I woke up in the upside down after stopping that Demogorgon, I had that feeling. I screamed your name for five minutes straight, hoping you could hear me, but you couldn't. The entire drive to the lab to close the gate… I couldn't stop thinking about you. You were the one keeping me going, Mike. Without you, I don't think I could of had enough strength to close the gate. So… I understand."

Mike had a single tear drop from both eyes as they began to turn red. He sighed, trying to get his emotions under control as he cleared his voice.

"I hope it doesn't come to that again," Mike said.

"Me too," El replied.

They both were slightly crying. Nothing major, but the topic was too personal for them not to get emotional.

"El…"

"Yeah?"

"I just wanna say, I've been acting like a huge mouth breather lately. First, the morning prank I did, and now, I'm like, just randomly yelling at you for bullshit reasons. I haven't been a very good boyfriend. And… like, this is hard. I'm getting all these crazy new feelings I've never had, and they're all combining together and making me go crazy."

"It's okay, Mike," El replied, thinking he was going too overboard about this.

"No. It's not. It's really not. I know you're still learning things… and I just want you to know that I'm not perfect. Some of the things I've done haven't been good. And I'm really sorry," Mike explained, feeling guilty about all the times he made her cry.

El could understand where he was coming from. She always liked how thoughtful Mike was and how he didn't want to make it seem like he was filling her brain with his opinion of right and wrong.

"I understand, Mike. You were not good at times. That's okay. You're okay," El simply responded, shutting up Mike for a while.

"The only thing that matters is… we're together. We are here… together. Let's just be happy with that, okay?" El said, trying to get the PTSD out of Mike's head.

Her soothing voice calmed him down. All the negative thoughts slowly drifted out of his mind. He was too tired to make out with her, so he got under the covers instead. El giggled and followed suit.

"El. I have to admit, after everything that's happened today, I need a nap."

"I think I need one too," El replied, staring at him with heart eyes.

She rolled over on her side with her back to Mike. Mike rolled over on his side and put his arm around her so his hand was touching her arm. He had his face buried in her short hair. He softly kissed the back of El's head, and although he couldn't see it, she smiled widely from the contact his lips made.

El closed her eyes for a couple of seconds, taking a deep breath from her nose. She opened them moments later and glanced at the completely closed door. She rolled her eyes and sighed. She turned the doorknob with her powers and slowly creaked the door open just the right amount of space. She turned her head around a little bit to where she could see Mike. Her hair wasn't completely buried in his face anymore so he opened his eyes and saw El staring at him.

"You okay?" Mike asked.

That question, for some reason, made her think hard. She thought back to where she would be Papa's lab experiment. Every time she would fail at something Papa wanted, he would get mad and treat her bad, putting her back in her small room. She remembered crying for Papa, thinking she was a horrible person for not living up to his standards. Then she had the guts to escape from that place. She remembered Benny, who was just being a good human being and doing his job. He died because of her. She would think of him every now and then, about how sad his family must've been, to think their son committed suicide. El did not want Mike to end up like Benny; she didn't want ANYONE to end up dead because of her. It only made her feel like more of a monster.

And then she ran away again. El had the greatest possible thing happen to her; she met Mike. Mike, a boy who wasn't selfish, ignorant, and careless. He cared for El from the very beginning when the two locked eyes in the rain. He gave her the iconic nickname 'El' and she basically felt like she was just an extension of him after that.

And he had just got done listening to El pouring her heart out to him for thirty minutes, not interrupting once. He was so thoughtful and considerate of others but especially for El.

"I said are you okay?" Mike asked again.

El snapped out of her deep thoughts, knowing now was not the time to think. Now was the time for sleep.

She nodded her head and giggled at him.

"Definitely."

El turned over real quick to kiss Mike's forehead which was almost entirely covered by his beautiful hair. Mike blushed hard.

"Then go to sleep," Mike teased El, making her laugh as she slapped his arm.

She got back into her sleeping position and the two teenagers drifted off into sleep.

_10:22 PM_

Mike and Eleven were sound asleep for about three hours now. They really did forget about Hopper. After everything that went on today, the two teens had their heads spinning about many other things than to care about Hopper. But he arrived.

Hopper walked into the cabin, noticing that it was more silent than usual. He walked by her room and noticed the door was open three inches. He lightly pushed it all the way open and saw the two teens in peace, their minds resting beside one another.

Hopper let out a deep sigh, not enjoying the sight in front of him. But he realized it could've been worse; they could of been sleeping naked under the covers, but they were clothed, much to Hopp's relief.

Jim walked up to her bed and tapped at El's arm as an attempt to wake her up. Her eyes got more clear the longer she was awake, and she realized who it was.

"Wake up Mike, it's really late and he needs to go home immediately," Hopper whispered to a sleepy El.

El nodded her head lightly slapped Mike's arm.

"Mgffgm, El," Mike said as he began to wake up.

"Mike," El softly replied, rubbing his hair with a heart warming smile on her face.

El thought it was so cute to see him so sleepy and innocent, like he was a baby.

Hopper rolled his eyes, not being in the mood for this.

"Alright, Alright, Mike. Get up. Come on," Hopper raised his voice.

Mike sat up out of nowhere like he just heard a gunshot. His eyes were still closed and he looked around the room, barely noticing where he was. El couldn't help but smirk at how silly Mike looked.

Mike's eyes opened and he could see Hopp staring him down.

"What, uh, what time is it?" Mike asked.

Hopper looked down at his watch, then back at Mike.

"10:27 PM."

"Shit," Mike mumbled, still too groggy to watch his mouth in front of Hopper.

"Shit is right. Your parents are probably worried sick about you. So please, can you go home?" Hopper said, pretending to be nice in the meantime.

Mike took a moment before responding as he stretched and yawned. He was still groggy, but not as much.

"Yeah. I should probably go."

Mike crawled over El, making sure not to hurt her while doing it. He stood up and stretched once more. Mike turned to El and smiled.

"I'll see you tomorrow, K?" Mike said to El.

"Yeah. See you tomorrow, Mike."

Mike walked out of the room, then out of the cabin. He was about to get on his bike but Hopper came out and stopped him.

"Mike," Hopper said, taking steps down the cabin steps to get a couple of feet from Mike.

"Yeah?"

"How was the tournament?"

Mike was dumbfounded to even think Hopper would ask him about that. Then Mike started to think that maybe Hopper found out El went to the arcade.

"Uh, how do you know I-"

"El's been blabbering to me about it the entire week, how could I not know," Hopper said.

Mike took a sigh of relief.

"It was good. I won."

Hopper raised his eyebrows in shock.

"What did you win exactly?" Hopper asked, somewhat interested in the conversation.

"$300," Mike replied, not trying to sound too excited about it.

"$300? That's a lot of money! What'cha gonna do with it?"

Mike didn't know. He never had that much money at one time. He went with his gut though.

"I don't know. I'll probably get some things for El. Valentine's day is just around the corner!" Mike awkwardly said, sounding too giddy.

Hopper slowly stepped closer to Mike, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Oh, you're definitely gonna get something for El. Because a happy El not only keeps you happy, it keeps me happy. We're both happy. Get it?" Hopper said, looking somewhat intimidating but not too much.

Mike nodded his head.

Hopper took his hand off of his shoulder and watched Mike get on his bike. Hopp had one more thing to say before Mike could take off.

"And Mike…"

Mike turned his head to Hopper, awaiting whatever he had to say.

"You've been treating El good. That's good. But you better not hurt her. She's been through enough."

"I know. I would never intentionally hurt her. I lo………….. I care about her too much," Mike said, just barely stopping himself from saying the L word.

Hopper was dumb, but he wasn't that dumb. He knew what Mike was about to say. Instead of calling him out on it, he simply nodded his head and grinned.

Mike could tell he knew, but it was better not to say anything. So he nodded his head back at Hopp and rode off.

As much as Mike pissed off Hopper at times and drove him insane, Hopper also realized that Mike was there for her first. He knew Mike cared about her just as much as he did. He knew overall that Mike was a good kid, and he knew that Mike was the best possible boy El could've fell in love with.

Hopper walked back inside the cabin and walked into El's room. El was still in bed.

"So I got us a movie!" Hopper said.

"Scary?" El wondered.

"I heard it's scary. I've never actually seen it."

He held up the VHS case and what El saw truly frightened her. The movie was none other than 'A Nightmare on Elm Street.'

"A Nightmare on Elm Street? What is it about?" El said in a questionable but shaky tone.

"Basically a guy who kills people in their dreams, and then they die in real life."

El's eyes widened in horror.

"I… I don't know. That sounds too scary."

Hopper knew about all the trauma she went through, but he was trying to break her out of that life.

"Look, kid, it's understandable if you don't wanna watch it. But I swear, I'll be right beside you, I'll be there for you if you ever get scared. If you don't wanna watch it, that's fine, but… I seriously think we should," Hopper said with a smirk.

El thought about it. She hadn't seen many movies, but she was willing to try new things. And having Hopper by her side warmed her up to the idea even more.

"Okay. Go get everything set up and I'll be ready in ten minutes," El softly replied, looking innocent as ever.

Hopper grinned, being so joyful.

"WOOO!! SCARY MOVIE TIME!!!" Hopper yelled in excitement, jump scaring El into laughter.


	10. 9

**JANUARY 17 1985**

Mike and El were in her room on a Sunday afternoon. Mike finally remembered to bring his ghostbusters outfit so he could give it to El. He wouldn't tell her straight up, but he had a fantasy of seeing her dressed in it. El put it to the side with her other clothes for now as her and Mike were in bed, exchanging kisses.

After all that happened yesterday, all Mike wanted to do was make it up to her with constant kissing. However El would keep breaking up the kisses to talk about her experience with the scary movie she saw the night before.

"And then he got sucked into the bed, and then blood started flying to the ceiling. And-and it wouldn't stop, Mike! So much blood!" El said to Mike, still freaked out over seeing 'A Nightmare on Elm Street.'

Mike found innocence in her scared voice so attractive, but he was getting a little annoyed of El constantly talking about the movie. He thought that maybe Hopper shouldn't of let her watch the movie. Maybe it was too much for her.

"You know what it sounds like to me?" Mike said with a smirk.

"What?"

"It sounds like Hopp let you watch a movie that you shouldn't have. Are you okay, El? Like, seriously, you've been talking about the movie for an hour now and I'm kinda getting worried," Mike explained, forcing El to process his words and think of an appropriate response.

"I'm fine… I think. It was scary but I liked it. It was very… interesting…"

"Entertaining."

"Huh?" A confused Eleven replied.

"When you're talking about things like movies and tv shows and stuff like that, the better word to use is entertaining. You know, since you are talking about entertainment," Mike explained.

"Right. Yeah. Makes sense," El said.

She was still learning about the world. Mike noticed a lot of improvement in her speech, but every now and then she would mispronounce a word or use a word incorrectly. It made her cute to him, but he still wanted to help her get better.

"And… about the movie. Look, I got really scared the first time I saw it. I mean... when Tina started floating on the wall and to the ceiling, and then all that blood-"

"MIKE! Please, I know what happens," El cut him off, not wanting to hear the brutal description of a terrifying movie that she just saw.

Mike nodded his head, acknowledging that he was being unnecessarily too descriptive of the kill scene.

"OK, but what I'm trying to say is… like, it's okay to be scared from those movies. I just don't want them affecting you by… you know… bringing back terrible memories. I just want you to be okay is all," Mike said truthfully.

El smiled and grabbed his hand.

"Like I said, I'm fine. I got really scared but it wasn't like the feelings I had at the lab. I know movies are not real. And Hopper was by my side. I can't let the past get to me, Mike," El replied in a soft tone, caressing Mike's face with her other hand.

Mike sighed, not wanting to be over protective of her and controlling, but he was always concerned about her mental health… mostly because his wasn't so good at times.

"So the past doesn't get to you at all? Like, ever?" Mike asked, genuinely curious.

The truth was those memories did linger in her mind sometimes. As much as she tried to move on, she couldn't ever forget her life as a lab experiment.

"Of course. Those memories… hard to forget. But I try to be positive. I think about how I would've never met you if I didn't live that life. That makes it mean something."

El had that familiar feeling creep up that meant she was about to cry. To stop that feeling, she kissed Mike on the lips while wrapping her arms around his neck. He held on to her hips as he kissed back, enjoying the smooching.

"You definitely seem okay to me," Mike joked.

El giggled as she broke away from the kissing and fixed her hair. Mike giggled at her giggling while they both looked down at the bed due to them making each other blush. They looked back up at each other, both unable to wipe the smile from their faces.

"God, El. When I kissed you in that cafeteria over a year ago, I never thought we'd be on each other like this so much. Like, I always imagined you say one word sentences forever and we'd just hold hands and stuff," Mike said as he chuckled afterwards and El laughed as well.

"I didn't think your face would change so much, Mike. You were so little. I didn't even notice until I saw your ghost busters picture. Your nose is even different," El said, unable to hold in her laughter after saying that.

Mike didn't know whether to take that as an insult or a compliment, so he decided to jokingly fire back.

"Yeah, well... I never thought your hair would be so curly. Oh my god, look at this hair," Mike rubbed both hands through her hair and started pulling on the strands.

El felt embarrassed but also saw that Mike was teasing her in a playful way, so she couldn't get too upset at him.

"Miiiiiike, stooooop," El laughed out loud, feeling his hands roam her hair.

"I mean it, El. I thought you were beautiful when I first met you with the short hair, but this hair beats it by a mile."

El's stomach felt weird when he said that word, beautiful, especially considering he was talking about the first time he saw her.

"You really thought I was beautiful with the really short hair? I thought I was just pretty… really pretty?" El wondered.

Mike's funny thoughts stopped as he had to think carefully about his response.

"I mean… I did think you were beautiful then. I just… can't express how I feel sometimes just with words, you know?"

El shook her head no.

Mike sighed.

"Pretty, beautiful, it's all the same thing, really. One may mean more than the other, but it's generally the same thing. And… and I was young… and I'm still dealing with those type of feelings. I still don't fully understand these feelings… but yeah……. Jesus I'm rambling, aren't I?"

El chuckled and pecked him on the lips.

"Yeah, but you are cute when you ramble," El replied.

Mike blushed as he glanced away from El for a second. He never got used to her calling him that; it made him feel weird.

"You sure like using the word cute a lot."

"I could use other words, but they all mean the same thing, right?" El said, having a smirk.

"Very impressive, Eleven. You are really smart, you know that?" Mike replied, being sincere, although El didn't think she was that smart.

"OK."

"You are. After everything you've been through, I mean, you just are naturally gifted with that brain of yours," Mike lightly poked her forehead with his index finger, causing El to make a weird face.

El eventually realized he was complimenting her and smiled. She thought about how Mike was only seeing her on the weekends and how she felt so lonely when he wasn't there with her. Hopper was nice to have around, but she always wondered what Mike was doing. She would occasionally spy on him at school. He would be sitting in class, bored, most of the time anyway, but she liked looking at him whenever she could.

"Mike…"

"Yeah?"

"Why can't you visit me on weekdays?" El asked, legitimately curious.

Mike could visit her on weekdays, but he didn't know if she wanted to be around him that much. He really wanted to visit her every day, but his parents would start asking questions and it would just be a lot to explain.

"Well, I didn't think you'd want me to visit everyday. I think you'd get tired of me really quick," Mike chuckled to himself.

"Tired of you? Why would you ever think that?!" El asked, hating how he seemed to always put himself down.

"I don't know, El. I don't want you to get bored of me and if I visit everyday, you will. That's just a fact."

El grabbed his chin and leaned in to his face.

"Listen, Mike. I killed a demogorgon for you. I closed the gate to the upside down for you. I. Will. Never. Get. Bored. Of. You," El emphasized each word, hoping he'd understand.

Before El could attempt to kiss him, Mike pushed himself down on top of her. El let out a quick squeal, knowing Hopper was in the cabin.

Mike held her hands down while her arms were resting above her head. He was on top of her, in control, but he didn't do anything too dominating. He just passionately kissed her, making sure to make each kiss long and meaningful.

"Visit me tomorrow, Mike. Please," El looked at Mike with puppy dog eyes.

He couldn't say no to those eyes. Her eyes.

"Fine. Fine. But when you get bored of me, I told you so," Mike joked, making El giggle as he went back to passionately smooching her lips.

"Eggos," El said with a naughty face.

"Jesus, El. I didn't know you'd actually continue doing that magic word shit. It's so hot."

"Of course I would. How else would I get you to suck my neck?" El seductively replied, not fully understanding how weak in the knees she was making Mike.

"You got a point. Your neck definitely has a thing for me."

Hopper barged into her room, causing the two teens to panic as they jumped up to their feet.

"Mike," Hopper said, not wanting to say anything about the sight he just witnessed.

"What is it?" Mike wondered.

"I… uh… never mind. I can do it myself. I just thought that… you know what, just forget I came in here, alright? Continue on," Hopper said as he left the room.

Hopper was stunned. He heard them talking about neck sucking and he wanted to barge in there and punch Mike. Once he got in there though, he saw the way Mike was on top of her, and it was very odd to see that. He was surprised he called them out the first time when Mike held El as she had her legs wrapped around him. She was growing up, becoming a woman. He didn't like that. And Mike was growing too, and he knew the thoughts going through that teenage boy's mind were dirty and disgusting… like all boys that age.

Hopper realized he needed a hobby. They were making him depressed with how clingy they were.

As Mike and El stood face to face with each other, Mike grinned at her.

"He definitely heard you talking about me sucking on your neck," Mike whispered.

"Sorry," El whispered back, feeling guilty.

Mike decided to whisper something in her ear.

"Good thing you said the magic word already. Get back in bed," Mike said, making El feel tingly and weird.

El looked at him and nodded her head while biting her bottom lip.


	11. 10

**JANUARY 18 1985**

It was morning as El got done with her daily Math and English lessons. Mike had promised to visit her after school. He had to talk to his Mom about how he would be at the arcade for a while after school; El hated that Mike lied to his mom. El was thinking that maybe he was too embarrassed to announce that he had her as a girlfriend to his parents.

But she knew deep down inside that he was just scared of letting everyone know about his relationship status because it could possibly give away El.

It would be another four hours before school was over. She couldn't wait that long. El had to see him now. She turned the TV into static and sat down next to it. She put a blindfold on and shortly transferred her mind to the void.

Everything loaded in. Mike first, then Lucas, Dustin, Will, and Max, and then the entire lunch table he was sitting at. Mike stopped bringing lunch boxes last year due to him thinking it was too childish for him now. He had a tray with tater tots and mashed potatoes with chocolate milk. El felt it was interesting to watch him eat each tater tot, wishing he could share his tray with her.

"So we're all going to the arcade after school, right?" Lucas said, wanting confirmation from the group.

"Of course, stalker. What else would I do?" Max said.

"Sure," Dustin answered immediately after Max.

"Yeah, I'm down," Will said.

Silence soon followed and they all turned their heads to Mike who was chugging his chocolate milk.

He awkwardly slammed the milk carton on the trey and saw all of their eyes on him as they waited for a response. Mike sighed.

"El wants me to visit her on weekdays now sooo…"

"Aw, bullshit! This is why I'm staying out of relationships. Too clingy!" Dustin said, actually feeling frustrated.

"Yeah, like you could get a girlfriend anyway," Lucas teased Dustin, making Max giggle and chime in with her own opinion.

"Yeah. And besides, it's cute. Let El be happy with her man, guys."

El felt confusing emotions when she heard Max sticking up for her. She still didn't fully trust Max, but she was starting to warm up to the redhead.

"I'm not saying they shouldn't be together. This is just my opinion… but I think she's a little too obsessed with you," Lucas said to Mike, causing Mike to shake his head.

"She's not obsessed, OK? If anything, I'm the obsessed one," Mike replied while eating his mashed potatoes.

Lucas didn't want to sound like he was mad at Mike and El for wanting to chill with each other, but he had to explain his unique thoughts about the situation.

"Listen, Mike. I love my girl, El."

Max turned her head to Lucas and raised one eyebrow at him.

"Your girl?" Max said, having a smirk on her face.

"You know what I mean. She's our girl, our bad ass friend, and I love her as a bad ass friend."

El smiled at Lucas who was inadvertently expressing his emotions to her.

"Even though she almost killed me, I mean, I was acting like a big jerk so I had it coming."

El laughed out loud, loving Lucas' honesty. Even though they made up after the incident, she couldn't forget that moment… that moment where she lost control of her powers because of Mike and almost killed Lucas. El had to make sure that would never happen again.

"That being said, and I mean this in the most respectful way possible. El is absolutely obsessed with you, Mikey." Lucas explained as he mocked Mike.

El was having a hard time disagreeing with Lucas. She was definitely obsessed with Mike and she didn't see it as a bad thing.

"Eh. Whatever," Mike replied, trying to brush off the topic.

"What about you, Will? You've been quiet," Lucas asked Will.

Will put his milk carton down after drinking out of it and decided to speak.

"Well. I don't know El that much. But……... Even I know she's obsessed with Mike," Will said, making everyone but Mike laugh at the table.

Mike rolled his eyes at basically everything in that moment.

"Yup. You guys are shit-heads. It's confirmed," Mike said, extremely annoyed at everyone poking fun at him.

El continued to watch him after lunch. He was in Math class, and unfortunately for Mike, the class had assigned seats so his friends couldn't sit with him. He was seated in the back of the class near one of the corners of the room. There was a girl sitting beside him. She had blonde hair, kind of like the wig that Eleven used to wear.

The girl had the pencil between her thumb and index finger while shaking it back and forth as if it were a seesaw. The pencil slipped out of her hand and onto the floor.

Mike heard the sound of the pencil dropping and looked down on the floor to see that the pencil was between them. He decided he was going to be nice as he leaned down. He was still sitting but he lowered the upper half of his body and was about to extend his arm out to grab the pencil. He didn't know the girl was also attempting to pick it up and they both hit heads.

"OW!" The girl and Mike said at the same time as they sat up and looked at one another.

"Sorry! I was trying to grab your pencil," Mike said, feeling extremely embarrassed about the situation.

The girl couldn't stop herself from giggling.

"I see that."

Mike went back to grabbing the pencil off the ground and handed it to the girl.

"There," Mike said, forcing an awkward smile on his face.

"Thanks," the girl replied as she eyed him up with a grin on her face.

"Your welcome!"

El didn't know how to react to that. It seemed like he was just being nice. He barely said a word to the girl, but El couldn't help but feel some sort of jealousy.

The bell rang and the students started to stand up. However, the girl had more things to say to Mike before he got up.

"Hey?" The girl said.

"Hi?" Mike confusingly replied while packing up.

"You're cute," the girl giggled after saying that.

"Uh, Thanks, I guess," Mike scratched his head as he tried not to make eye contact with her.

"My name's Trisha? Yours?"

"Uh, Mike…"

With a slip of paper in hand, she reached her arm out and tossed it on his desk.

"There's my number, Mike. Maybe you can… give me a call sometime?"

El's eyes widened as her face turned red with anger. Mike on the other hand, didn't quite know what was even happening at the moment. He couldn't think properly, and he obviously didn't know how to handle a situation like this.

"I… Uh… well… I just… It's just that..."

Trisha stood up and walked out before he could say he had a girlfriend. He frustratingly put the slip of paper in his pocket while shaking his head. El took off her blindfold, extremely pissed at Mike but more at the girl trying to steal him from her.

Mike didn't break his promise as he arrived at Hopper's cabin after school. He adjusted El's door when he walked into her room and turned around, but it was not the sight he was accustomed to seeing.

El was in bed with her arms crossed and a pissed off look of epic proportions.

"Uh, Hi, El!" Mike said, thinking that maybe it was a weird face she was making in the moment.

Mike got in bed beside her and caressed one side of her face. He was smiling, comforting, and overall just being the usual good boyfriend. But El wasn't reacting, wasn't looking at him; It almost seemed like she was ignoring him. And that's when Mike knew something was wrong.

"Are you okay?" Mike asked her, however she remained silent.

"El, please! Are you mad at me?!" Mike was worried she got tired of him already.

"El, please talk to me!" Mike said, raising his voice out of desperation.

El heard the pain in his voice, and although it would be nice for her to make him suffer a bit longer, she couldn't bring herself to ignore him anymore. She turned her head to him, still having an angry look as she uncrossed her arms.

"You like her?!" El asked with crazy eyes.

"Huh?!" Mike confusingly replied, not knowing if he was in a dream or real life anymore.

"I Said do you like her?!?!?!" El raised her voice, looking like she was about to kill someone.

"I don't know who you're talking about!"

"Trisha! You like Trisha!" El shouted.

"Trisha?! How do you-"

Mike cut himself off and remembered that she had powers.

"El, OK, I know that it looked bad, but I don't like her."

"Then why didn't you tell her that?!" El asked, sounding like she was about to cry.

"Because we were in the middle of class with a bunch of people and I didn't want to sound rude and hurt her feelings!"

"WHY DO YOU CARE ABOUT HER FEELINGS?!" El yelled.

"I- I mean I don't JUST care about her feelings. I care about everyone's feelings and I didn't want to be an asshole in front of everyone."

"You lie!" El replied with anger as she stood up out of bed. Mike stood up and put his hand on her shoulder to stop her from walking out of the room.

"I wouldn't lie to you, El! I don't like her!" Mike said, trying to win El back.

El turned around and huffed at him.

"You still have her number in your pocket?!" El asked.

Mike got an 'Oh shit' look on his face as he reached into his pocket and pulled out the slip of paper. El refrained from slapping him and turned around to walk out of the room. Mike stopped her with a hand on the shoulder again.

"El, please, let me explain!" Mike said, sounding weak.

El threw his hand off of her and turned back around to face him again.

"If you don't like her, why would you keep her number in your pocket?!" El asked.

She was getting ready to cry and release all the pain she felt, but for now she was still angry.

"Because, like, I didn't want to just leave it on my desk for the teacher to see and I didn't wanna seem rude and throw it in the trash. I put it in my pocket and I swear to you, I forgot it was even there until you mentioned it!"

El shook her head at his response, not wanting to believe it initially, already releasing too much anger to just admit she was wrong.

Mike stared at her with puppy dog eyes, trying to win her heart back. She tried to look like she was still mad, but she wasn't. She realized he was socially awkward. To stop herself from caving in, she looked up to the ceiling.

Mike started to lose hope that she would accept his explanation and got down on his knees. He buried his face into her stomach while putting his hands together like he was praying.

"Please, El, please. You have to believe me. I wouldn't ever cheat on you! You mean so much to me! PLEASE! PLEASE! YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE ME" Mike's voice was muffled as he begged and begged into her stomach, so desperate to keep El from leaving him.

El felt guilty. She was being stupid and jealous and she ended up hurting Mike. She couldn't keep up the angry act any longer. She rubbed her hands through his dark brown hair and let out a sigh of defeat.

"I believe you, Mike…"

Mike looked up at her in surprise.

"You do?!"

"Yes."

Mike stood up on his feet and embraced El with a long hug.

"God, I know I was being stupid, El. I should of just said I had a girlfriend but I was being too weird. I'm sorry," Mike kissed El's neck.

"No. I'm sorry for getting mad at you. I should've believed you. You are always good to me, Mike," El said as her voice broke.

Mike had both hands on her face as he attacked her lips. She let him kiss her for however long he wanted because she felt she owed him for almost breaking his heart.

He broke off the kiss and they both were blushing.

"El. You have to trust me on things like this, or else it isn't much of a relationship."

"OK."

"We have to have a rule in place. It's not cool for you to spy on me, alright?"

El was confused.

"No spying? No looking at you while you're at school?!" El said, making it sound like it was some impossible task.

"Yes. No looking at me at all unless I'm actually with you!"

"But… but…"

"No buts! El, you have to understand that it's not normal to look at whatever someone's doing without their permission. That's spying and it's not cool," Mike passionately explained, trying his best to make El understand.

El shamefully nodded her head.

"I guess I understand…"

"OK, so we have a rule now. No spying on anyone with your powers! You understand?" Mike asked, not trying to belittle her.

"Yes. No spying on you… or anyone else with my powers…"

"Good girl," Mike teased her with a smile as he connected his lips with hers once more.

A little kissing turned into a make-out session. These two teenagers were a roller coaster. They went from being angry, upset, begging, happy, and now they were making out like their lives depended on it.

Mike was on top of her on the bed as she pushed him away from her lips momentarily.

"Give me the paper…… with phone number," El was in a hurry to get this over with so she could go back to making out with her Mikey.

Mike handed her the slip of paper and watched El rip it up, piece by piece. She had an evil smile on her face while looking into Mike's eyes as she did it.


	12. 11

**JANUARY 19 1985**

Mike had a long day at school. When he cuddled with Eleven in her bed after school ended, it was a huge relief. He had to do so much work that he became mentally exhausted. He didn't want to show it to El but it was hard to hide. El noticed he wasn't talkative as usual.

El snuggled into Mike's chest while slowly rubbing his abdomen. Mike had his eyes closed, trying to get some rest.

"Mike."

Mike heard that feminine voice and opened his eyes wide.

"Yeah?"

"Is something… wrong?" El asked.

"No. Just tired," Mike said as he let out a yawn afterwards.

El rubbed his neck while looking up to smile at him. She couldn't stop herself from smiling when she saw Mike's face.

"Tired? Of me?"

"Huh? NO! Definitely not," Mike chuckled as he tapped his finger on El's chin, making her grin.

"No. I'm tired of school. Like, I have so much work and it feels like a bunch of shit to keep me busy. I just…… Never mind, you don't wanna hear me ramble."

"I do," El said, running circles around his chest with her finger.

Mike was surprised she actually wanted to hear his emotions, but he couldn't complain.

"OK….. Well…. To start off, I fucking hate everyone now. I look at someone in school and I wanna punch them if they look at me weird or say something stupid. School is fucking pointless now. It used to be so fun and the teachers were cool, but now I'm just bored and wanna be with you."

"At least you still have your friends, Mike," El said as Mike hesitated to respond.

"Yeah….. Well….. Not really."

"What do you mean?" El wondered as she sat up and looked at him.

"Ever since… everything went down with the whole Upside Down shit, things have changed. We've grown up. I have you, Lucas has Max, and Dustin has his magazines," Mike joked.

"Magazines? What kind of magazines?" El was confused by what he meant.

"Uh, not important. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is that we've all started to mature… in different ways of course. And then there's Will…"

"What's wrong with Will?" El wondered, only asking more and more questions the longer Mike went on.

Mike hated talking about Will like this. Will was his best friend, his longest friend. He wanted to hold the feelings he had about him inside because he knew he would hate himself for saying it out loud.

"Will just seems… stuck in 1983. He's a little behind," Mike glanced up at the ceiling, feeling too awkward to look into her eyes while saying that.

"I don't follow…"

Mike sighed, but he felt like getting his feelings out today.

"Like, for example… We played D and D a couple of weeks ago. We used to play D and D all the time and have crazy ten hour campaigns. But when Will suggested that we start playing it again, it just didn't feel fun... and like… I wasn't into it. To be honest I was thinking about you the entire time and how much better it would be to spend time with you. I felt bad, like, I'm a terrible friend."

El jumped on top of Mike and kissed him on the lips, holding on to his face for dear life as she tried to cheer him up. Mike smooched her back but stopped quickly.

"I'm not finished," Mike said.

"Oh."

El was already awkwardly seated on top of him so she just remained silent with her arms around his neck.

"And like… we played that campaign for two hours, and I felt like calling it quits. I was so bored, I was about to fall asleep. But Will was so into it, I thought I was just going crazy. Then after the game was over I asked Dustin and Lucas if they liked it and they said no. They weren't really interested in it anymore."

Mike got quiet. He thought about what he would say next, feeling the emotions in his body get out of control.

"He's my best friend, El. Always has been since Kindergarten. I can't stop being his best friend, because there's no way I could find a better friend. We have so much history and I really care about him. And I know all the shit he's gone through with The Upside Down has been tough, and like, I should give him a pass because he deserves it. He really deserves a good life. But… I'm just not interested in the stuff he likes anymore. And I feel bad… because I like spending more time with you than him… and… shit… I don't know. I just feel terrible," Mike explained, frustratingly pulling the strands of his hair with his fingers.

El leaned her face into his as she caressed Mike's sad face with both hands. She never heard Mike talk about his friends like this. It hurt her to see him in this state.

"Mike………. You are a good friend," El softly said, barely making a smile appear on his face.

"I don't feel like I am. I used to be able to tell Will everything. I would tell him about how I missed you so much during those 353 days. I told him so much about you. Now I can't even tell him that I think D and D sucks now because I know it might hurt him. He was there for me when I needed him and now I don't feel like being with him as much. It's a shitty feeling."

El smiled, although her eyes were hurt with his current attitude.

El wished she could give him some good advice, but she's the one who was still learning how things worked. She couldn't give him much advice, but she did show him her support as always.

"You are trying your best, Mike."

Mike frustratingly sighed, already too deep in his feelings to stop talking.

"Life in general is pointless. Why should I go to school, have friends, watch TV, play my Atari, and all that stuff when I can just spend it with you?! If I'm being honest with you El, nothing makes me happy anymore that isn't you. There are things that make me sad, like, say, my parents arguing and my sister crying, but nothing makes me happier than you, and it sucks. Because what if one day, you……. You…."

Mike stopped himself from saying that next thought. He was already crying as he thought about El getting killed by some Demogorgon or Demodog. With the tears dripping down his face, he connected his lips to surprised El who also started crying when she saw his tears.

Mike was ferociously attacking her lips, fighting for dominance that he would eventually get.

His arms wrapped around her back, then he moved down to her waist. He couldn't control his urges any longer as he went down even further and grabbed her butt with both hands. El would be shocked by what he was doing, but it felt so good. She was too lost in his lips dominating her, and the way his hands were touching El made her feel amazing. It was hard to ignore how hard he was grabbing her butt.

"Mike," El mumbled, breathing heavily.

"Your hands are on my butt," El said, slightly smirking.

"Yeah. And?" Mike whispered in reply, lightly chuckling.

"Maybe I can… touch yours sometime?" El shyly asked.

Mike's eyes widened with shock. He wouldn't mind being objectified by El. It's probably the hottest thing he's ever thought about… at this point.

"Don't get your hopes up," Mike teased her.

They finished making out soon after and then El fell asleep on his chest with his arms wrapped around her.

Hopper got home about an hour later from work. The cabin door opening woke up El, but Mike was a heavy sleeper. Her hair was messy, and so was Mike's. El shook Mike's body, trying to get him to wake up, but he kept sleeping. El grabbed a pillow and lightly hit his face with it. That seemed to do the trick.

Mike slowly gained consciousness on where he was as he sat up and saw El smiling at him. He rubbed his eyes and gave her a questionable look.

"What?!" Mike said, sounding grumpy.

"Hopp's home."

"Boy, I love hearing that first thing when I wake up," Mike joked, still groggy from the nap.

El giggled and kissed his cheek. Mike stretched afterwards, smiling at how good it felt to feel her lips on his face.

"You gonna kiss me just there?" Mike jokingly asked with a grin.

El leaned in to his face and had a grin of her own.

"I don't know. Where else should I kiss you?"

"I can think of a lot of places," Mike replied, too groggy to understand how dirty he was being.

Mike and El started making out again. Mike officially woke up when she jumped on top of him. She loved overpowering a tired Mike, and Mike loved it even more.

"HEY!" Hopper shouted on the outside of the room as he saw the two teenagers expressing themselves.

Mike and El had a deer in the headlights look. El panicked, closing and locking the door with her powers.

"HEY! OPEN THIS DOOR!" Hopper yelled as he banged on the door with a closed hand.

The two got back in a more innocent position. El fixed her hair as best she could while Mike left his messy. They sat beside each other with space in between them. Mike tried to act casual by crossing his arms together; El didn't know what to do so she followed Mike's lead and crossed her arms.

"OPEN IT UP!!" Hopper yelled, getting impatient.

Mike and El looked and nodded at each other. El unlocked the door and opened it.

Hopper walked in and saw them casually sitting beside each other. Mike had the most punchable face while El was more serious.

"You two need to chill out with that stuff!" Hopper said.

"What stuff?! It sure is a lovely day out, huh?" Mike said, pretending to be innocent.

El busted out laughing and quickly covered her mouth with her hand as she kept laughing.

Hopper had no idea what to do. He couldn't really punish them for kissing but he couldn't act like it was okay to do that when he's there. He gave up and walked to his bed to get a much needed nap.


	13. 12

**JANUARY 20 1985**

Mike and Eleven were outside the cabin, sitting on the steps. Mike just got done with school so it was still early, which meant that Hopper was still working. Sometimes Hopper would get off work at 5:00 and it would be late at night at other times.. It was unpredictable. But besides checking in on El during lunch sometimes, he never went home before 5:00 PM. It was 3:23 as Mike and Eleven held hands and fit on the tight space of steps leading to the cabin.

Mike thought it would be a good idea to help her see the outside and breathe in the fresh air. She was a little pale, but not too much. Every now and then El would rub his thigh as she looked out into the woods, making Mike extremely uncomfortable but in the best way possible. With the sun shining, Mike couldn't get over how pretty El looked with the sun making her seem brighter. El would rest her head on Mike's shoulder a couple of times, wanting to smell his scent on his clothes, wanting to feel safe, wanting to be his one and only girl. She was always afraid he would leave her, even though he kept promising the complete opposite. El knew how much Mike cared about her but she always felt scared of losing him in any way, because Mike was her entire world.

"El…"

"Yes?"

"I've just been wondering. I was thinking back to when you told me about your mom ..."

"Mama?" El innocently said.

"Yeah. She named you Jane. I'm just wondering… should I call you Jane because, like, it is your real name and if you wanna be called that, you should let me know," Mike said as he scratched the back of his neck to calm his nerves.

El never had the idea in her mind to decide on what she wanted to be called. She just went with El because Mike gave her the nickname, and Mike is her everything, so she really thought about it.

"I don't know……. Do you want to call me Jane?" El asked.

Mike shook his head and chuckled at her cuteness.

"No, no, no. The point is that I wanna know if YOU wanna be called Jane or El? Because if you want to be called Jane instead of El, I can do that."

El still wasn't quite understanding him. She understood that he was giving her a choice on what she wanted to be called, but she didn't understand why it was important for her to make that decision.

"You gave me the name El. I… don't know why I would want to change that."

Mike was getting frustrated as he let out a sigh but he couldn't get mad at El; Mike was just annoyed that it was taking so long to get his point across.

"It's just I nicknamed you El because it was short for Eleven, and I know the name Eleven might be a little dehumanizing."

"Dehumanizing?!" El confusingly replied.

Mike let out a big sigh.

"Like, treating you like a dog, not a human. A number as a name, that's something that a lab rat would have, not a human. You understand?" Mike tried to explain.

El nodded her head yes.

"Yes. You think the name Eleven is bad?"

"No! I mean, I would understand if you think it's bad or if you feel uncomfortable having that name because of the history behind it is what I'm trying to say."

El smiled at him, grabbing his face with her hand to make sure his eyes were directed to hers.

"You gave me the name El. I understand that Eleven isn't a normal name, but you made me feel normal when you called me El. I don't want you to stop calling me El, Mike."

El pecked him on the lips, temporarily silencing Mike who was in shock. Mike tried to remember what they were even talking about, suffering short term memory loss from that little peck.

"Uh. Yeah. So. I mean, like. So you wanna be called El still? Are you sure?" Mike asked, trying to be compassionate.

"Yes," El giggled.

As he held El's hand, he stood up, making El stand up with him as they both walked down the steps. They walked in circles around the cabin, holding hands and laughing at the faces each of them would make.

Mike could tell her he loved her right then and there. It would of been perfect. He probably would have to explain what love meant, but that wouldn't matter. If he could just say it to her face. It was just so hard to get it out, like some part of him wouldn't allow him to express his deep feelings of love to her.

"El…"

"Yes?" El said as they continued walking around the cabin.

"I have something important to tell you…"

El's eyes widened as she turned her head to see his face. Mike was walking with his head down, thinking of how exactly he would say it.

"I, uh. I really…"

Mike went silent, almost choking.

"I Just… I wanted to say that…"

El was getting worried that Mike had something stuck in his throat.

"I lo- … I lo- ... I like you a lot," Mike said, too afraid to utter the bigger L word.

El smiled and gave him a hug.

"I like you a lot, too," El replied, looking up at him with her precious smile.

Mike hated himself for not saying it then and there. He couldn't say those three words to the most important thing in his life. He couldn't say it to Hopper. He was so afraid of being in love, he heard about how great the feeling of love is, but also how love can backfire and completely break you. He also thought it was just bringing in more complications to their young and innocent relationship, and the last thing he wanted was to make El more confused.

"Let's go inside, huh?" Mike said with a grin.

El smirked and nodded her head.

"Wanna watch TV?" El asked.

"Sure. Just please, no soap opera stuff," Mike joked, making El giggle.

"You might like them," El replied, trying to convince him to watch what she likes.

Mike grabbed both of her hands and kissed her forehead.

"OK. But you know I'm not gonna be able to keep my hands off you."

El got that tingly feeling, biting her bottom lip as she grinned widely at the boy.

"You better not at important parts," El replied.

"I can't promise that, El," Mike seductively said as he kissed her passionately, making El lift her leg up as she wanted more and more of his lips.

They both giggled at each other after they were done kissing. With their hands connected, they ran back into the cabin to watch one of El's SOAPS.


	14. 13

**JANUARY 21 1985**

Mike and Eleven were cuddling in her bed on a stormy Thursday night. Mike would have to leave in an hour but for now he had El in his arms as she refused to get her head out of his chest.

Hopper was also in the cabin, sitting in his recliner and eating chips while watching the news. He heard El giggling in the background and rolled his eyes. He knew Mike wasn't stupid enough to try anything too dirty with El with him present, at least he hoped…

"Eggos! Eggos! Eggos!" El shouted, feeling giddy with Mike holding her.

"That's a lot of Eggos, So. Are you sure?" Mike jokingly asked.

"Yes!"

Mike dived into her neck with his mouth and ferociously kissed and sucked her neck. El let out laughs of pleasure, making Hopper sigh in his recliner.

El grabbed Mike's face like it was her own play toy and attacked his lips with smooches. They rolled over, making El on top of Mike. They both blushed at how stupid they looked switching positions, then went back to kissing.

Mike felt an urge to cough during the make out session. He coughed right into El's mouth, making her break off the kiss and lean up as she had her hands on his shoulders.

"Are you okay?" El asked, truly concerned for Mike.

Mike chuckled.

"Am I okay? After your mouth took that nasty cough I should be asking you that," Mike replied, amazed at how much El cared about him.

"I'm fine."

Mike put a finger under her chin and slowly tickled it, making her giggle once again.

Hopper had enough of the joy he was constantly hearing.

"ENOUGH LAUGHING FOR THE LOVE OF GOD," Hopper yelled, which made Mike and Eleven turn their heads at the door in panic mode before they looked back at one another and smirked.

"I'm so glad I listened to you and not Hopper," El whispered.

"Very, very, very rebellious of you, El Hopper," Mike teased with a deep voice.

"Rebellious?"

"It means you're being a really bad girl and not listening to authority. Authority in this situation is Hopper," Mike explained.

"Oh. Then I am rebellious," El smiled and quickly pecked Mike on the lips.

"Mike. How was school?" El wondered, wanting to know more of his life because he was her life.

"Uh, it was the usual. Can't complain really. Wasn't as bad as Tuesday or Wednesday. Pretty boring to be honest. The lunch table conversations get more and more annoying."

"Do they talk about me?" El asked.

"Sometimes. They're starting to pick up on the fact that I'm showing you a lot of attention."

El rubbed his shoulders to comfort Mike as he explained his school problems.

"Should you show me less attention?" El wondered.

"In my opinion, fuck no. I waited almost a year for you and I don't know about you but I have a lot of lost time to make up for. So if they have a problem with me seeing you, then they're just being assholes or don't understand what we've been through."

El nodded her head in reply, not knowing how to put it in her own words better than Mike.

"What about Trisha?" El suddenly brought up, making Mike's eyes widen.

He thought he was done with this conversation but El apparently wasn't. She was waiting for a reply but he seem stumped by the sudden topic change.

"Um, what about Trisha?"

"Did you tell her that you have a girlfriend?"

Mike forced out a chuckle.

"Uh, no, can't say I have."

"Why not?" El replied, having a little anger in her voice.

Mike huffed as he made wacky hand motions.

"Because I haven't even talked to her since all that stuff happened. I just find it incredibly awkward to say outright that I don't like her. I would hope she got the hint by me not calling her," Mike explained while playing with El's curly hair.

"And what if she doesn't get the hint?" El asked.

"Then I'll tell her straight up. You don't have to worry about her, El."

"Oh, I do have to worry. I'm not letting girls think they have a chance with you. You will tell them you have a girlfriend or I will hurt them," El replied from a place of anger.

Mike's eyes widened because of how serious she got.

"Come on, El. Violence isn't the answer, I've taught you better than that. Look, when we go to high school together like you keep saying, you'll get to hold my hand as we walk down the hallways, kiss me before you walk into class, and you'll be able to show me off to all the girls who like me. And just with a look, you can tell those girls 'Yep, Mike Wheeler is my man, bitch.' Until then, you just gotta control yourself."

El laughed out loud at Mike's imitation of how she would be in high school. It made it impossible for her not to kiss him passionately as he grabbed a handful of her curly hair. He was a little rough with her but she found it quite pleasing.

"So, Uh, El… I was thinking maybe tomorrow after me and the party go to the arcade, maybe we can pick you up around 5:00?"

"Pick me up to do what?" El wondered.

"I don't know. Just ride around the town till it gets super dark. Everyone misses you and they wanna see how you're doing," Mike explained as he showed a light hearted smile towards El.

El smiled back, nodding her head in approval.

"Is it safe? To ride around town?"

"Well yeah, I mean you'll be with the party, no one's gonna notice anything suspicious about you when there's 5 other kids helping you blend in. Hopper said as long as we don't stay in the MIDDLE of town for too long so people get a good look at ya. We'll be on our bikes, constantly moving. You wanna do that?" Mike explained and asked her once more.

El smirked and nodded her head as she leaned down to kiss Mike's forehead. Mike forced her head down again and kissed her nose.

"When can I play Pac-Man again, Mike?" El asked, eager to get better at the first arcade game she's ever played.

Mike felt sad about bringing her to the arcade, knowing he wasn't gonna be able to bring her again even though she already got attached to it.

"I don't know, El. Hopefully sometime soon. There are other games, too. Dig Dug, Dragons Lair; Pac-Man is like the starter pack of arcade games," Mike tried to explain the arcade game lore but El wasn't interested.

"OK. Still want Pac-Man," El replied, having a serious facial expression.

"Right."

Mike thought about how happy El would be if she could play Pac-Man while eating Eggos. It would probably make the entire world explode.

"El?"

"Yes, Mike?"

"You've been on top of me for a while now," Mike said with a smirk as he made El giggle.

"I'm sorry," El innocently replied, having regret in her voice.

"It's fine, El! I just… I'm not used to it."

They exchanged smiles as El leaned her entire body on top of him, resting her head over his shoulder.

"Just hold me, Mike."

Mike wrapped his arms around her and turned his head so he could kiss her cheek.

Hopper walked into the room and let out an extreme sigh of disappointment at the sight he saw.

"Jesus Christ, El. Get off of him, and Mike, please go away, back to the place you live," Hopper said, sounding like he was done with everything.


	15. 14

**JANUARY 22 1985**

It was 5:18 P.M. There was a knock at Hopper's cabin door. El got up from her bed and ran to the door to open it. She saw her group of friends plus Max standing there, welcoming her with grins and smiles. She immediately went to Mike for a hug, making some of the gang give suspicious looks at her affection for Mike. Dustin and Lucas walked past El and into the cabin to look around.

"Woah, this is a pretty neat set up El," Dustin teased as he saw how official the cabin looked.

"Yeah, totally tubular!" Lucas said, making Max cross her arms together while shaking her head in shame.

"Seriously, guys? You don't just march into someone's home," Max said, annoyed at how rude they were being.

Dustin and Lucas looked at each other and shrugged. Mike held El's hand as they looked at the two boys in the cabin; Will stood beside Mike, keeping to himself. Max walked inside the cabin and grabbed Lucas by the ear to drag him out, making Dustin cackle.

"OW! OW! Max! STOP! That huuurts!!" Lucas cried in pain while the rest of the party laughed at his suffering.

With Lucas out of the cabin, Max looked at Dustin, giving him a mean look that told him to get out.

"Relax, I'm coming out. I just wanted to see if there was anything cool in here," Dustin said.

"Why do you care?" Mike wondered.

"Because I'm bored," Dustin added.

The group brushed off Dustin's comment and got on their bikes. El was the only one without a bike so she had to get on Mike's.

Hopper pulled up to the cabin, obviously taken off guard from the group of teenagers on their bikes. He got out of his police car and walked over to the kids who stood still, anxiously waiting for what Hopper would say.

"Where do you think you're going, El?" Hopper asked.

"You didn't tell him?!" Mike whispered to El, trying to play it cool while being shocked that she didn't even ask Hopper to go.

El was scared. The two biggest figures in her life were now upset at her, or at least she thought they were.

"We… We are going to ride around the town," El said with a shaky voice.

"OK. That's okay. Just remember, don't stay in a place with too many people, too risky," Hopper said as El nodded her head to show she understood.

"And Mike…"

Mike had his eyes away from Hopper but when he heard his name being called, he made direct eye contact with him.

"You better have her back by 7:30 and not a second late if you want me to let her go out with you more. You understand?" Hopper asked, looking intimidating as a protective dad should.

Mike reluctantly nodded his head, understanding the repercussions if he didn't follow Hopper's rule.

"OK. You kids are free to go. Have fun," Hopper said as a sudden grin appeared on his face.

The teenagers exchanged looks at each other, turning their heads to the left and right to see each other's faces.

"Man, there is some tension between you and Hopper, huh, Mike?" Lucas said with a smirk on his face.

"Yeah, I hope it's not, like, sexual tension," Dustin joked, making the group look at him with disgust.

"Jesus, Dustin, you really have to say that shit with El around?!" Mike said, feeling annoyed that El had to hear Dustin's dirty jokes, because he knew El would end up asking him about it later.

"What did he say?" El chimed in, confused what everyone was going on about.

"Nothing, nothing. He's just being stupid, El. Come on. Let's go," Mike replied as everyone followed his lead on their bikes.

They rode into the town of Hawkins; the streets were mostly empty as it started to get dark, but it wasn't too dark yet. The group would make small talk to pass the time while on their bikes.

"I hear they're already working on a 2nd Nightmare on Elm Street," Will said.

Lucas huffed at Will, clearly disgruntled.

"Yeah. It's gonna be the new Friday the 13th. They're gonna keep on making sequels until we wish it would end," Lucas explained.

"What's Friday the 13th? Can we watch it, Mike?" El innocently asked.

Mike remembered all the sex and nudity in that movie, then he imagined watching it with El. NO WAY. He couldn't watch that with her and he really didn't want her watching it at all. She was too pure to Mike and he didn't want to ruin her remaining innocence when it came to things like sex. Mike didn't respond.

"Ah, shit. Hey, we should have a sleepover at the cabin sometime and get El caught up with her horror movies," Dustin said.

"NO!" Mike suddenly shouted as he spooked the rest of the party.

"OK, geez! Just a suggestion," Dustin replied.

"El doesn't need to be seeing too many of those movies. I don't want it messing with her mind," Mike explained.

"I'm fine, Mike. I saw A Nightmare on Elm Street and I'm okay. I can handle scary movies," El whispered in Mike's ear as she tried to defend herself against her protective boyfriend.

"I know, El. But these movies… aren't just scary. There's graphic things in them. And like, I don't want your mind getting messed up from seeing them. Sorry if I sound like I'm controlling, I just care about you," Mike whispered back to her.

El didn't know how to respond to that. She was just happy to hear that he cared about her.

Mike sighed, knowing he couldn't protect her from bad movies forever.

"I'm sorry, El. You should be able to see whatever movie you want… with Hopper's permission of course," Mike said, causing El to giggle as she rested her head on his back.

They got to a spot in the town that felt familiar to El. She remembered why it felt so familiar; she was on Mike's bike in 1983 riding down the same road with a blonde wig and dress on her.

They passed by all the stores in Hawkins Square and made there way to the suburban area. Dustin felt the need to call out a particular house when he saw it.

"Guys, guys, stop, I wanna show El something," Dustin said, having a huge grin.

The gang stopped and looked at Dustin with curiosity covering their faces.

"What?" Mike wondered.

"That house right there, you see that, El?" Dustin asked as he pointed at the house.

El nodded her head, still wondering what Dustin was trying to show her.

"That very house right there is where the great Troy lives. You remember Troy, right?"

El remembered the name and the boy with the name after thinking about it for a little too long.

"Mouth breather?!"

"Yep. That's mouth breathers house all right," Dustin confirmed with a small chuckle.

"Good thing he's in high school this school year, bad thing is that we join him in 7 or 8 months," Mike said in a quiet but upset tone.

El thought back to Troy and his friend making Mike jump. She thought back to them constantly making fun of Will's apparent death. She thought back to how the bullies hurt Mike's chin. El WAS NOT about to let that happen again; she would do much more than break his arm this time.

"Are they going to hurt you?!" El asked, showing concern on her face.

"I don't know. I hope not. I hope nothing happens but… you never know," Mike replied.

Mike saw the upset look on Elevens face that shortly turned to anger. He knew what she was thinking and he didn't want her to have that mindset.

"El, it's okay. We'll be fine. Don't worry. We'll be able to handle ourselves," Mike tried to sound confident but failed miserably.

Like most of the gang, El wasn't buying that they could handle themselves against Troy and however many goons he had. An awkward silence followed that only Dustin could break.

"Yeah. Sure. Handle ourselves. Or, if things get bad, we can just have Eleven break his arm again," Dustin suggested in a joking manner.

"I'm still pissed I didn't see that. AH, I wish I saw the look on that stupid assholes face when his arm snapped like a twig!" Lucas shouted, clearly passionate about his hate for Troy and people like him.

"Guys, enough. It's getting dark. We need to go," Mike ordered.

Max sighed.

"Where are we going exactly?" Max asked.

"Just follow my lead," Mike replied once more.

They took off and followed Mike to wherever he was going.

They arrived at the junkyard. It brought back unforgettable memories from when Hopper took out the bad men as the kids hid on the bus. And Dustin, Lucas, and Max couldn't forget about the time they fought off DemoDogs on the bus with the help of Steve Harrington.

"Why here?" Lucas asked.

"Cuz we can't bring El to places with a lot of people, so why not here? It's low profile but also familiar," Mike explained.

The party couldn't argue with him. He thought a lot about El's safety and where or where not to take her.

The teenagers got off their bikes and walked around the junkyard. It was a mess like always. They were laughing at stupid jokes Dustin made about people in school; Mike was happy to see El smiling and happy out in the world, however limited the world was for her, it was still a good feeling for him.

Mike and El were holding hands the entire time, not risking separation of one another. El looked down at Mike's hand and it was way bigger than hers. She liked that for some reason. It comforted El to know how big he was getting; he would always protect her.

They eventually made it to the bus. Everyone looked at it and took in the sight.

"Holy shit, I just remembered my life flashing before my very eyes as I saw a DemoDog open its mouth on top of the bus, getting ready to eat me," Max confessed.

Lucas couldn't hold in his laughter. This made Max very upset. She punched his arm really hard.

"OWWW!!!" Lucas yelled, feeling the sharp pain.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?!" Lucas shouted in pain as he held his affected arm.

"I talk about almost getting killed and you think it's funny?!"

"OH, SO I'M JUST SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHEN AND WHEN NOT TO LAUGH? LIKE I'M A PROGRAMMED ROBOT OR SOMETHING??!?!"

"What the hell was so funny about what I said?!?!" Max wondered.

"It wasn't really what you said, it was how serious you sounded. I just thought it was funny!"

Mike, El, Dustin, and Will were getting tired of hearing them bicker over nonsense. They thought that maybe it would end if they stayed out of it but that clearly wasn't the case.

"Guys, guys, guys!" Dustin said.

The couple stopped talking and paid their attention to their friends.

"Seriously, it's getting annoying," Mike said.

Max and Lucas looked at each other. They were still unsatisfied with how the argument ended. They needed more time to settle things.

"We'll just leave you guys be for now. Me and Lucas have some things to talk about," Max said with an evil smile.

Max grabbed Lucas' hand in an aggressive way, making him wince in pain once more as she pulled him away from the group. They walked away to where their friends couldn't hear them and continued arguing.

Mike looked at El who was very confused by how Lucas and Max were treating each other. Sure, she got mad at Mike because she thought he was interested in Trisha, but she would never hurt Mike or even yell at him like that.

El noticed her boyfriend's eyes were on her and looked up to see them. She gave a warm smile to Mike. Mike smiled back with heart eyes. Then he got an idea.

"Uh, wanna hang out on the bus, just me and you?" Mike shyly asked as he scratched his head, knowing Dustin and Will were looking.

El had the biggest smile ever while nodding her head yes. Mike gave Dustin and Will a little nod. It was understood that Mike wanted alone time with El. They did a little nod back, then Mike looked at El walk inside the bus in front of him. He followed her up and closed the door.

El went to the seat all the way in the back. She didn't have time to breathe as Mike immediately sat down beside her, somewhat spooking her as she giggled.

She picked out one tiny strand of hair from his big head, slowly rotating it, then she put her other hand on the side of his face. Mike was lost in her eyes, unable to think of something to say.

The way he was looking at El made her go crazy on the inside. She couldn't wait any longer. El pressed her lips against his, having both hands on each side of his face, absolutely making sure that Mike belonged to her and no other girl. The long kiss would turn into heated smooches. Both of them weren't taking it lightly on each other as each kiss got more intense than the last. Mike rubbed her leg and El had her arms around his neck.

The kissing was over. They pressed their noses against one another, both smiling at how much love they just shared.

"God, El. You… are… amazing," Mike said.

El bit her lip as she felt a fiery passion roam through her body; she could only get that feeling from Mike.

"No. You are amazing, Mike," El replied, making Mike blush.

Mike wasn't thinking clearly anymore. He forgot that they were even on a bus near their friends. All of his thoughts were about her and what he could do to please her.

Mike saw that his hand was still on her thigh and decided to slowly rub it some more. El liked the sensation of his big hands moving back and forth on her thigh.

"El, I… I wanna try something," Mike said, clearly not thinking straight.

"What?"

"It's something that can make you feel good. Really good. You wanna try it?" Mike asked, his eyes looking at her with lust, but he was also nervous of what she would say.

El wasn't gonna say yes or no to something that she didn't know about. She wanted to know what could possibly make her feel as good as Mike's lips.

"It has something to do with your vagina. I could... maybe try something and … and… see if you like it?"

"... OK…"

El didn't know exactly what Mike was going to do, but she always trusted him, and this time was no exception.

Mike felt too nervous to actually do what he was planning to do. Mike would never tell her, but he was going to finger her. He always controlled himself so it would never get to this point when he was with her for the past three weeks, but this time was different. El finally made him lose control of the dirty urge in the back of his head. That dirty urge was to sexually please her however he could.

The feminine voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

"Mike?"

"Uh, yeah?" Mike replied, trying to act like he wasn't a nervous wreck.

"What exactly are you going to do to make me feel really good?" El asked innocently, honestly wanting to know.

"I'll… I'll walk you through it, El. OK?" Mike softly said while putting both hands on her thighs.

"OK, Mike" El softly replied.

Mike moved his hands to the top of her blue denim jeans. El gave him a suspicious look.

"First… I'm gonna… unbutton your pants," Mike said as he unbuttoned them, the sound of it coming undone making things more intense.

El's eyes were wide with curiosity as she stared at Mike.

"Then I'm gonna pull down your zipper..."

Mike did what he said, the sound of the zipper making Mike almost lose it.

El couldn't do anything. She saw how intense Mike was and knew this was something big, something special for her.

They stared into each other's eyes. Mike's were full of lust, and El could see that something was different about Mike. He never looked at her like this before.

He could see a little bit of her pink underwear and he wanted to see more.

"And then I'm gonna pull down your pants-"

Mike and El got startled when they heard the door open. They quickly got in a normal position as El buttoned and zipped her pants back up. It was Will.

"Hey, Mike, do you know when we're going home?" Will asked, oblivious to what was going on between the

couple before he interrupted.

"Uh, you know what, it is getting pretty dark, huh? I guess we could go now. Right, El?" Mike said as he turned his head to her.

"Yeah. Let's go home," El replied and nodded her head while smiling at Mike.

Mike let El past her, the ladies first motto never leaving Mike's brain. Will was standing right beside the driver's seat, allowing just the right amount of room to allow El to walk out. He stepped in front of Mike who was also about to walk out.

"Hey, can we talk?" Will asked.

Mike was caught off guard but he couldn't say no to his best friend.

"Sure. What is it?"

El was waiting for Mike to join her as she looked up at him on the bus. Mike saw El waiting and couldn't ignore her.

"El, I'll be right with you, just give me a minute. See if you can tell Lucas and Max to get back here," Mike said.

El nodded her head and walked away from the two boys.

Mike looked back at Will and waited for whatever he had to say.

"You were saying?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to play D and D tomorrow?" Will asked.

Mike felt bad about the feeling he had, but he just didn't want to play Dungeons and Dragons anymore, at least not for a while.

"Ah, sorry, tomorrow I'm gonna be with El."

"OK. Sunday then?"

"I'm gonna be with El again…"

Will looked disappointed and frustrated at Mike's responses.

"But you've been with El all week! I spent a couple of days making this campaign!" Will simply replied, sounding annoyed that he was getting blown off because of a girl.

Mike hated being in this situation, knowing he wasn't being truthful. He could tell Will that he's not into Dungeons and Dragons anymore but he didn't want to hurt Will after all he had been through. Mike stayed calm and collected as he looked into Will's eyes.

"I just… really wanna spend time with El right now. You know how much I care about her."

Will nodded his head, then he glanced down at the floor so Mike couldn't see the flash of sadness that appeared on his face. He looked back up at Mike with a smile.

"Yeah, I know. You and her deserve to spend time with each other after everything that's happened," Will said, holding his true feelings buried deep within.

They exchanged smiles and nods before getting off of the bus. Mike spent a couple of minutes waiting for El to get back with Max and Lucas. She eventually did but only Lucas was with her.

"Where's Max?" Mike asked.

Lucas played it cool with a grin.

"She's just a little mad. She had to cool off and go home early. No biggy."

The party could have commented on that but decided not to. They got on their bikes and started riding home. They would ride together to one person's home. First it was Will, then Dustin, then Lucas. Lucas waved Mike and El goodbye. He walked into the house and slammed the front door shut. Mike and El clearly saw that Max and Lucas' fight annoyed Lucas much more than he lead on.

Mike took El back to the cabin. Thank goodness Will interrupted them, or else they would've been late. It was 7:27 PM; he brought El back home with three minutes to spare. She slowly stepped off of his bike and planted a kiss on his cheek. Mike smiled widely at the kiss and pecked her on the lips as he remained seated on the bike.

"Mike…"

"Yeah?"

"Can you make me feel really good tomorrow like you were going to do on the bus?" El asked, not knowing how dirty she was being by innocently asking him that.

Of course Mike was speechless, dumbfounded, amazed, shocked, and any other word that came to mind.

Mike hesitated to even think of a response. But she was asking him about it. What he did was wrong and he knew that. He lost control because of her passionate kissing, and although he knew it wasn't right, he couldn't exactly turn her down.

"Um. We'll see, El. Just… don't tell Hopper about any of this!" Mike really wanted to implant that sentence into her skull.

"I won't."

Hopper barged out of the cabin a few minutes later with a wide grin on his face while resting his hands on his hips. Normal people usually wouldn't be excited, but Hopper felt so happy that Mike actually listened to him. He followed his rules, and that made Hopper feel like he was in charge.

"Come on, El," Hopper simply said, motioning her to get inside the cabin with his hand.

"See you tomorrow, Mike," El said to Mike, having a heartfelt smile.

"See you tomorrow, El," Mike replied, returning the smile to her.

El ran up the cabin steps and hugged Hopper, then went inside the cabin. Hopper crossed his arms together and stared down Mike. He let out a chuckle.

"Thanks for bringing her home on time, kid. I really appreciate ya for realizing who the real one in charge is."

"You're welcome, Hopper," Mike said in a snarky tone.


	16. 15 (Really good)

**I Feel like I have to clarify a lot of things before I continue on with this story. I asked you guys what rating you'd rather prefer, T or M and the majority said M. I'm down for whatever so it doesn't matter to me, but like, 85 - 90% said M, and that's enough for me. To the people who didn't wan't the rating to be changed and will quit reading now because it has been, I'm sorry. It sucks and I wish you guys could still read it but i understand. There was a little part of me wondering how I could keep this story interesting. I mean, I know I could probably think of something but I have so many more options with diverting from the canon. I'm still gonna stay true to the characters but you guys already kinda know what happened over those 6 months, so I think it'd be more interesting if I put my own spin on it. If you don't like that, that's okay, you don't have to read it anymore and I will completely understand. It's just I have so many days to write and I feel like I'm holding myself back because of canon so its tough bruh. SO this is the chapter where the story officially diverts from the canon, being Mike and El never shared sexual experiences with each other, and I feel like this is something that normal teenagers, that are as in love with each other as they are, would do. I find it hard to believe they never experimented during those 6 months, and yeah I know Hopper was a thing but they could've figured out ways lol. This will not be a smut heavy story, but the smut will be present and will continue to grow as time goes on. So with all that being said, enjoy this chapter ****:). reviews are appreciated**

**_**

**JANUARY 23 1985**

Mike had been thinking about what he would do when he was in the cabin with El. He thought about what she said last night. She wanted him to make her feel really good; she didn't know what he was trying to do, but she wanted it to happen. Even an oblivious Eleven could tell that something special was going to happen on that bus.

Mike would usually reject doing such a thing and apologize for even thinking about doing what he almost did on that bus, but there was something that kept him from saying no. It could've been his raging hormones; it could've been him thinking with the wrong head, but something had definitely changed. He still couldn't believe he didn't say no to her. Not only did he not say no, he said we'll see.

Mike was faced with a clear dilemma. Show El you love her by sexually satisfying her and ruin her ignorance of sex so they can progress their relationship faster… or … keep things the way they are, don't complicate their young relationship and fill El's mind with dirty things. It felt like he had an angel and demon arguing with each other in his mind.

Time passed quickly as he didn't have time to think about it anymore. He was lying in bed beside El. They were doing their usual cuddling in what felt like the longest five minutes of Mike's life. He didn't know what to say or if he should even say anything. He was scared of saying anything in fear of it leading to a dirty place.

El could see the fear in Mike's eyes as she rubbed his chest and looked into his eyes. She didn't like it because Mike wasn't being himself. She knew something was wrong.

"Mike?" El said in a soft tone.

"Uh. Yes, El?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah…"

El stared him down with a look that said he's lying. Mike could tell that she knew and he let out a depressing sigh.

"Mike, friends don't-"

"Lie. I know. You're right. It's about yesterday," Mike embarrassingly said, not wanting to elaborate further.

"What about yesterday?" El wondered as she sat up and looked at Mike who was still resting his head on one of her pillows.

Mike sighed as he felt that explaining this to her was too hard. Still, he mustered up the courage and took a deep breath before explaining it to her.

"When we were on the bus… and I said I could make you feel really good?"

"Yeah?"

"Well, I was wrong for almost doing that…"

Mike sat up to level with her and scratched his head as he kept awkwardly glancing away from her, too afraid to keep eye contact. El raised her brow at how weird he was acting.They twisted their bodies so they were face to face, no longer having to turn their heads to the side to look at each other.

"Why were you wrong?" El asked.

"It's just… not our time yet."

"Not our time?" El said, getting more confused the more he tried to explain.

Mike buried his face into both hands out of embarrassment, struggling to get through a conversation he wanted no part of in the first place.

"Like, remember when I said that there are things that only grown ups should do?"

El nodded her head.

"When I said I could make you feel really good, I was talking about doing something that only grown ups should do."

"Oh!" El replied with wide eyes, finally making progress in actually understanding Mike.

"Yeah," Mike said, sounding awkward as he rapidly nodded his head at her.

"But… if it's something that only grown ups should do, why did you want to do it on the bus?" El asked.

Mike loved El, but he hated how curious she was about everything. He sighed while grabbing her hand for comfort.

"Because… sometimes... people are bad, and… and they lose control. I lost control of my emotions. I was bad."

El was still so confused at why what Mike did was so bad. She needed so many answers.

"But… if it makes me feel really good, how can it be bad for us to do it? Why is it bad… if it makes me happy? Just because we are not grown ups?" El asked a good question.

Mike wanted to pull his hair out. He was only digging a deeper hole that he wouldn't be able to get out of.

"It just is, El. I can't explain it to you."

"Why not?!" El shouted as she started to get annoyed of Mike not explaining it to her.

"Just please get someone else to explain this to you, like Hopper," Mike suggested.

El shook her head at the thought.

"I just want to know!" El raised her voice once more.

Mike put his index finger up to his lips.

"Shhhhh, please don't let Hopper hear this," Mike whispered, afraid of being beaten into next week.

"I want to feel good, Mike!" El whispered aggressively as she crossed her arms together.

All Mike could do was give her a look that said I'm sorry.

Hopper barged into her room without warning. Mike thought this was it, his life was over. He looked at Hopper with a wide open mouth and huge crazy eyes.

I'm dead. I'm fucking dead. So fucking dead.

Hopper switched between looking at Eleven and Mike's faces for the small amount of time he was standing in her room.

"Uh, I'm gonna take a trip into town and get some Ibuprofen. Got a real headache. I'm gonna stop by the store so I don't have to go tomorrow," Hopper explained to El, knowing something wasn't right.

Mike sighed in relief that Hopper wasn't killing him just yet. El had no idea how bad Hopper would hurt Mike if he heard about the conversation they were having, so she remained calm and nodded at Hopper with a smile.

"Okay. I hope you feel better," El said

"Believe me, kiddo, I hope I do as well," Hopper replied with a small grin.

Hopper took a look at Mike whose face still didn't look right.

"Is something wrong?" Hopper asked while staring at Mike.

Mike immediately shook his head no; that only made Hopper more suspicious.

Hopper had been weirded out now. He didn't know if this was some sort of power play by Mike but he was in no mood to even argue.

"Alright… I'll be back in about thirty minutes."

Hopper adjusted the doors position and walked away from the teens. He grabbed his keys and walked out of the cabin as Mike and El heard the cabin door slam shut.

El mischievously grinned at Mike who almost had a heart attack. Mike knew his El only made the grin when she wanted to make out. He returned the favor with a naughty smirk of his own and their lips clashed against one another.

El giggled as Mike would quickly alternate between smooching her lips and kissing the side of her face. She let Mike touch her wherever because it's her Mike. Mike rubbed his hands on her lower back, making El appreciate the warmth of his hands securing her.

"When's the last time you showered?!" El asked with a smile, smelling the sweat on his skin.

"I ran three miles earlier today," Mike quickly explained and attacked her lips.

Of course El wanted to know why he would do such a thing so she broke the kiss and backed her head away from him momentarily.

"I don't know exactly. I just knew that I was starting to become lazy and I had to tell myself to do it. I'm weird," Mike joked, making El laugh.

"No. You are perfect."

El grabbed Mike by his shirt and pulled him into a kiss that she seemed to be more dominant in. Mike had no problem switching between being dominant and submissive to El. That kiss and the couple of smooches that followed it set El off. Like Mike on the bus, she wasn't her usual self.

Mike continued to kiss El while putting both hands on her face. El took her free hands and unbuttoned her pants and pulled down the zipper. The sound of her pants unzipping forced Mike to look down at the area. He almost jumped out of bed because of how freaked out he was.

"EL? What are you doing?!?!?!" Mike shouted as he held his hands up to his forehead, heavily breathing at the sight with wide eyes.

"Con-tin-uing where we were on the bus before Will interrupted.

Mike stared in awe. He could see a small portion of the pink underwear that would usually be hidden.

"NO! This is… not okay!" Mike said in an authoritative tone, trying to act like he didn't want to do it even though he definitely did.

"Miiike?" El said in a light hearted tone, begging him with her eyes.

Those eyes were very tempting. He tried to use whatever logic he could still think of to reject this.

"El, you-you don't understand. These things that make you feel really good, it's different from kissing and cuddling. This is way more serious!" Mike replied.

El caressed his cheek and smiled at him with her white teeth sparkling.

"Then I want it to be with you. I trust you, Mike. Please… continue from yesterday and… what was the next part? Take my pants off?" El said, actually not fully knowing what came next but took a guess based on memory.

Mike gulped as he realized the time was now or never. The ultimate yes or no answer. He always wanted to protect her innocence, be the perfect boyfriend that never over steps boundaries, never pressures her into sex, never teaches her bad things, but now hear he was… being begged by El to make her feel really good.

Mike would have thought about it all day, but he went with his gut.

"N-N-Next I pull down your pants. Here, lie down," Mike said as he patted the bed, signaling her to lie down and get comfortable.

El did as instructed. Mike pulled her pants down but didn't want to take them all the way off as he left them around her ankles. There he saw it, the sight of El in her pink underwear. Hopper definitely did not buy her thongs or bikinis yet, and Mike was okay with that.

Mike moved up to her face to see her eyes as she rested the back of her head on the pillow. He brushed her hair back and smiled as he kissed her lips.

"And the next part, I'm gonna take off your underwear. Is that alright with you?" Mike asked with a calming smile, wanting to make sure she was one hundred percent okay with it or else he wouldn't do it.

"Yes…"

Mike moved down to her crotch area. El had her legs close together so it was easy for him to take them off. It seemed so forbidden, so taboo, to touch her in that area. Mike slowly extended his arms out as he reached for her underwear, It felt like his body was in slow motion as he began to slowly pull down her pink undergarment, not breathing at all while doing it. He had his eyes closed as he pulled it down to where her pants were.

Still having his eyes closed, Mike was thinking that maybe this was a dream and that he would wake up soon. When he couldn't pull her underclothing down any further, he opened his eyes…

He was astonished at the sight. Eleven's exposed vagina.

He dreamed of this moment so many times. He would wake up with morning wood thanks to those naughty dreams, and now it was happening again, only it being real life this time. He looked up at her with his bewildered face puzzling her.

El didn't know what to say. Mike was supposed to lead her through everything. But he was lost and scared while looking at her vagina, so that's why he looked up at El's confused face.

She felt weird. There was something off about it, like how quiet Mike was or how frightened he looked at the sight of her private part. She was starting to get worried that maybe he didn't like it.

"You don't like it? My vagina?" El asked innocently.

Mike did not want her to think that he didn't like it because he most certainly did. He shook his head no really fast while awkwardly chuckling.

"No-no-no-no, I… I do like it. It's… beautiful. Really beautiful," Mike added as he intensely stared at El who instinctively bit her lip because of the look he was giving her.

He looked back down at her vagina, not knowing if he had the strength to continue on with his plan of satisfying her. El was getting impatient though. She wanted to feel really good already.

"What's next, Mike?" El asked, her soft feminine voice being the thing to make Mike's member grow in his pants instead of her vagina.

Mike was flustered as he kept looking up at El's face and down at her vagina. His brain loved her cute face, but his dick had other ideas. Mike built up enough courage to continue on with the act.

"Uh, El. What I'm about to do… might seem weird… and… and if you feel uncomfortable at any point and want to stop, TELL ME, and I will, alright?"

El nodded her head, still curious as to what he was going to do.

"What are you doing?" El wondered.

"I'm gonna... "

Mike held up his index finger to show El.

"I'm gonna stick my finger in your vagina…"

El was obviously weirded out at the idea. Another person's finger going inside of her was obviously unusual, even to El who was completely oblivious about sex could figure that out.

"Oh," El said, sounding unsure.

"We don't have to do this. We can just kiss like we always do," Mike replied.

He was being a good boyfriend. He saw how uncomfortable she looked and gave her a chance to rethink things. Maybe now she would change her mind.

"No. I… want it. Please stick your finger inside me, make me feel really good, Mike," El softy replied as she bit her bottom lip.

Mike paused his entire body for a moment, the words taking forever to process in his brain. He gave her a warm smile, then looked at his index finger.

Mike wasn't sure how fingering worked exactly. He heard about it from kids in school, overhearing that they used their finger on a girl. He didn't really understand their strategy when it comes to fingering, but he knows they definitely did it. Still, it was an entirely new concept to Mike, like learning you can multiply by 0 but can't divide by it.

He was slowly moving his finger towards her hole. He was so nervous and scared, like he was about to stick his finger in a mouse trap.

He finally stuck his finger inside, expecting all hell to break loose. He only had half of his finger in her vagina as he looked up to see her reaction. El's face hadn't really changed; she wasn't showing any major signs of enjoyment or pain. It was more of a blank face than anything else.

"Do you… do you feel it?" Mike nervously asked.

"Um. Kind of. I think?" El said, unsure what exactly she was supposed to feel.

He was so inexperienced with this sort of thing; he put his finger in her like he would when he pointed at someone. He knew he wasn't good at it but he was trying.

He slowly moved his finger in circles around her core. She felt the sensation, but it wasn't really goodpleasure like she was hoping for. It was just sort of there and a little bit uncomfortable at times.

"Still nothing?" Mike said, trying to hide the sadness that he had for not being able to please her.

"I… I don't know."

For the next several minutes, Mike would try different methods, each one ending in the same result as the last, with an indifferent El. He had to be able to do something right one of these times. He got frustrated and ended up pulling his finger out of her. He let out a sigh of disappointment as he looked down at the bed, not wanting to face her in this manner. He failed her; she deserved better.

"Mike?" El said with a concerned tone.

"I tried, El. It's just… I'm not good at this."

"It's okay. You can keep trying."

"I don't know if that's a good idea…"

"Please keep trying. I want to know how good I will feel from this."

Mike sighed again, then nodded his head at her request. He decided to think outside the box. He put his finger inside of her again, this time turning his finger over so it was opposite of pointing at someone.

Still, for a good minute, he would be moving his arm instead of just his finger, almost making it seem like he was poking her core. He decided to say screw it and stopped using his arm. He started moving his finger in a motion that was like signaling someone to 'come over here.'

While El felt things here and there and would maybe feel flashes of pleasure, she never really felt it hit her until now. Her vagina was starting to feel different. Her breathing was getting more intense. His finger was unlocking the puzzle of pleasure.

"Mmmmm," El quietly moaned.

Still fingering El, he heard the soft sounds escaping her lips and looked up at her, his mouth open wide out of shock.

It's working,Mike thought as he slightly smirked at her before going back to focusing on her core.

Her moans were becoming increasingly louder. It got to a point where Mike was getting in a rhythm with his finger. Her moans went from shy to loud without a care in the world.

During the process of her pleasure increasing, Mike also felt something weird inside of her vagina. It hit him. He heard the rumors but didn't know they were true.

"Holy shit. Your pussy's actually wet," Mike said, not trying to talk dirty as he was legitimately stunned.

"Hmmmm, pussy?" El interrupted her moans out of curiosity.

"It's another word for vagina…"

"Synonym? Hmmmm-OOOH," Mike didn't let up as they had their small dialogue.

"Yeah, something like that…"

El felt like her body was going to explode. A certain type of feeling kept getting closer and closer to making her lose it.

"OHHHHH, Mike….."

"You like that?" Mike asked, actually wanting to know.

"YES!" El shouted, about to climax.

"You want another finger?" Mike wondered as he thought of the idea himself while fingering her for several minutes.

"Yeeees…"

"Yes what? What do you want? I wanna hear you say it," Mike said, having a dirty smirk as he toyed with her.

Mike was shy and nervous at the beginning but when he saw how much he was satisfying El, he couldn't help but feel the confidence creep up inside of him.

"I want another finger inside my vag- … Inside my pussy. Please, Mike. I can't take it…"

El was so desperate for his touch, double the touch technically. She was about to orgasm regardless of another finger being added, but this would definitely speed up the process.

He saw how much he made her suffer. His middle finger joined beside his index finger in pleasuring the love of his life. He fingered at a much faster pace, feeling like it was the right speed in the moment as her moans got louder.

"OH. MIKE! MIKE! I THINK I'M DYING! MIKEE!" El yelled, panicking as the orgasm was almost here.

"You're not dying, baby. Just go with it. Come on. Let it out. You're gonna be okay," Mike said softly to comfort El as his fingers were rapidly pulling at her core, making her feel like her insides would shatter.

"MIIIIIKE!!! MIIIIIIKEEEE!!!! MIIIIIKEEEE!!!" El screamed in pleasure.

Her pussy came all over his fingers. He didn't stop fingering her until her moans died down, the sign of her orgasm passing.

She's exhausted and he can tell. He takes his fingers out of her and looks at the white mess on them. Mike can't help but lean in and get a whiff of his fingers. He didn't have time to register the smell as he heard El talking.

"That was good……….. Really good……"

Mike grinned at her, causing her to blush while panting, tired from the work Mike did on her.

"So… you liked it?" Mike asked with a shit eating grin.

"Yes. You made me feel so good, Mike. Now come here."

El pulled Mike on top of her as she attacked his lips with hers. She wanted to show him how much she appreciated what he did with each smooch she applied.

Mike could talk about how what they just did was so important. He could keep on saying how this is a big step in their relationship. He could bring up the fact that she had her first orgasm. He could talk about so many things. But he didn't.

Mike let El have her way with him. Even with her on bottom, she was manhandling his face, making him hers and only hers.

Mike wanted her to enjoy this day. She deserved to be satisfied and happy. She most certainly deserved her first orgasm, and last but not least, he knew she deserved a normal life. And as long as he could see her, he would help her feel normal.


	17. 16

**JANUARY 24 1985**

The day after everything happened, things seemed… normal. Mike and El were giggling in her room as the sun started to go down in the evening. They hadn't talked about what went down the day before, too busy making out and acting silly.

Being on top of her, Mike applied light kisses all over her face, including her lips of course. El was giggling at the sensation of his puckered lips. Mike and Eleven ended up switching positions, now having El be the one on top.

El had unique thoughts going through her mind. So unique, she had to stop playing around with him.

"Do you want me to finger you, Mike?" El asked with a smirk on her face.

Mike almost lost it as he had to stop himself from laughing out loud. He shook his head and smiled at her.

"That's not how it works, El. Unless you're talking about… never mind," Mike cut himself off as he thought about her fingering him in another disgusting area.

El was too oblivious to know what he might be thinking, so she smiled and put her hands through his hair.

"Sooo much hair. Do you ever plan on getting a haircut?" El asked.

"Well, yeah, I don't get a lot cut off but I get a trim. Is that what you want?" Mike asked with a smirk.

"Huh?" El confusingly replied.

"You want my hair short? You wanna see my entire forehead?" Mike asked, trying to hold in his laughter but failing.

El gave him crazy eyes. She couldn't imagine Mike without his signature bowl cut. It was the one thing about him that hadn't changed when he hit puberty.

"No. Don't do that!" El replied, panicking that he might actually go through with it.

"Relax, El. I'm not planning on a different hairstyle anytime soon. You on the other hand, you're hair is almost as long as mine now!" Mike joked, slightly teasing her although it wasn't much of an insult.

Her hair was much longer than Mike's. On some days she would try and get it all nice and pretty for Mike. On other days she would leave it curly; El knew he liked both styles, so she felt like alternating between the two.

Her hair was curly today. She giggled at his comment. Still having her hands in his hair, Mike decided to put his in El's.

"So. Pretty," Mike said as he rubbed his hands through her hair, making El smile when he said that word.

They both were rubbing their hands through each others hair. They started laughing at how silly they looked with their hair being completely messed up. It didn't matter, they didn't have to look perfect. They felt perfect as long as they were together.

It seemed like the playful moment couldn't be ruined, but it was.

"MIIIIIKEE!!" Hopper shouted loudly so he knew Mike would hear.

Mike jumped up to his feet, panicking that his life would end in a moments notice.

"YEAH?!" Mike shouted back, his eyes wide as he stared down at El on the bed so he wouldn't completely lose his mind.

"NEED SOME HELP LOADING UP SOME BOXES!"

"AND YOU NEED MY HELP?!" Mike replied.

"JUST GET OUT HERE!"

Mike nodded at El before walking out of her room. He saw all of the boxes on the floor in the middle of the cabin.

"Jesus, what the hell are you gonna do with all these?" Mike asked while walking up to Hopper who was standing by all the boxes.

"I'm putting them in storage. I don't trust this dirty cabin with these," Hopper explained, having both hands on his hips as he was getting a breather from getting the boxes out of the basement.

"Doesn't storage cost money?" Mike asked with a brow raised.

"I'm not poor, Mike."

"Could of fooled me," Mike replied by being a smart ass.

Hopper was trying to refrain from hitting his punchable face. It started to become painfully challenging.

"Just actually be somewhat useful and help me pick up the boxes and put them in the back of my vehicle. Is that too damn much to ask for?" Hopper replied, showing a little of his rage.

"No, it's not. I can help," Mike said, finally agreeing to help when he saw the anger on Hopper's face.

Mike grinned and picked up a box. The box was much heavier than Mike expected as he grunted.

Hopper couldn't help but chuckle at Mike's pain.

"Did you forget your schoolgirl uniform at home or something? I thought you were the man?" Hopper teased while coincidentally giggling like a schoolgirl.

Mike tried to play it off and pretend the box wasn't killing him. Hopper brought his box to the back of his police car first, then waited for Mike as he slowly brought his out.

Mike finally put the box in the car. His face was red and he was rapidly breathing from all the strength he used for that one box.

Hopper laughed once more and put a hand on Mike's shoulder.

"Next time, just grab the little boxes," Hopper winked at Mike and walked back into the cabin to collect another box.

Mike followed his suggestion. The two were going back and forth as they kept bringing boxes out of the cabin.

Hopper would never tell Mike, but he was impressed with how Mike kept picking up boxes that we're bigger than the last.

One of the boxes Mike picked up said the word 'Vietnam' on it. This freaked him out tremendously. Hopper had war experience? In freaking Vietnam? Oh, Mike knew if Hopp ever found out about what his fingers did to El, his parents would already have the funeral prepared.

They were able to get all of Hopper's boxes in the back of his car in just about six minutes. Both fatigued, they decided to rest their bodies on the car afterwards.

"So, how's El?" Hopper asked.

Mike was hesitant to answer, however he pissed off Hopper once today, and learning that Hopper was in Vietnam only gave him more incentive to answer him.

"Shouldn't you know that? You live with her."

"I do. But you spend more time with her. You've been coming over here everyday, talking to her, kissing her, touching her. So you tell me, how is she?" Hopper asked again.

"She's… good. I mean…"

Mike didn't know how to describe El to her foster father. But Hopper's eyes were interested in hearing and Mike felt the need to explain.

"Like. At times she can be weird or unknowing about something. But she's great. She's too innocent for this world," Mike said with passion as a smile grew on his face just from thinking about El.

Hopper wasted no time to reply.

"And what's the one thing she's done that's frustrated you?" Hopper wondered.

Mike felt much more comfortable talking to Hopper now than he did a minute ago for some reason.

"Well, a while ago she spied on me with her powers at school and saw me talking to a girl."

"Uh oh," Hopper said mid story, already knowing where it was going

"She thought I liked her and she got really mad. She eventually believed me when I said I didn't like that girl, but it scared me…"

Hopper took in the story for what it was. Then he chuckled seconds later.

"That just sounds like females being females to me," Hopper said with a grin.

"Any advice?" Mike asked in a desperate tone.

"Yeah. Don't even start arguing back. It's not worth it. Even when you're right, it's better to just say you're sorry than to keep getting her more riled up. You understand?" Hopper explained.

Mike nodded his head. He started to walk back into the cabin but Hopper's voice stopped him.

"Mike."

Mike turned around to face him.

"Yeah?"

"Just because we had this little discussion, that doesn't mean I forgot about your smartass bullshit attitude."

Mike's eyes widened with fear.

"This alpha male assert your dominance bullshit is getting old, and frankly, I'm getting real tired of you treating me like a joke in front of El," Hopper shouted.

Mike remained silent.

"You think you can just treat me like a joke because you know El will protect you? If you don't straighten up, you're gonna be in for a rude awakening. What do you have to say about that?!" Hopper felt good, finally releasing his emotions towards Mike.

Mike didn't want to say anything right away because he knew he would stutter. He tried to gather a response in his mind but Hopper grew impatient.

"On second thought, don't say anything. Just take what I said and remember it. Now go back to El. You don't tell her about this, are we clear?" Hopper ordered, sounding intimidating.

Mike nodded his head to show he understood. Hopper signaled Mike to go inside the cabin and he did. Mike quickly made it to El's room and adjusted the door in the correct position.

El couldn't spy on Mike anymore because of the new rule put into place, so she was very curious as to what happened between two of the most important males in her life.

Mike jumped on the bed beside her, making her giggle as he positioned himself sideways while having his hand hold up his head as he devilishly smirked at El.

"Where were we, beautiful? Mike grinned at El.

El couldn't deny that he had a certain charm to him that didn't make what he did and said that cringy. She even got her body in the same position as Mike's, like they were reflections in a mirror.

"Make me feel really good again? El questionably requested, knowing Mike wouldn't immediately say yes because of Hopper, but she couldn't wait for another time when they might be alone.

Mike froze in place as he stared at El.

"Hopper- Hopper's here," Mike whispered in fear.

"I know… but … I want it," El whispered as she grabbed his hand, almost sounding like she was about to cry because of how desperate she was for him to 'make her feel really good.'

Mike pulled his hand away. There was no way he would be fingering her with Hopper in the same house. He would be asking for his death at that point.

"El, no. Just no. We can't do that stuff everyday. It's unhealthy and like… I don't want to treat you like a slut… because you're way better than that and deserve better. And that's why I hated myself for even attempting to do it on the bus. It should of never popped into my head, but I wasn't thinking straight."

El wanted to take in everything he said, but like a lot of words she would hear Mike say, there was one that confused her.

"What is slut?" El innocently asked.

Mike let out a sigh. Sometimes he would say certain words to El that he knew he shouldn't have. This was one of those times.

"A slut… is like… a girl who makes herself feel really good… but like… a lot… with a bunch of different guys…"

El had a frown of disgust. She couldn't think of any other guy making her feel really good but her Mikey.

"But… I can't be a slut then… because I only want you to do it," El replied.

Mike casually nodded his head at her while wanting to scream on the inside. His head started to get uncomfortable so he decided to sit up; El shortly followed. Mike scooted towards El, grabbing her hands and smiling as he looked into her eyes.

"Then maybe slut wasn't the right word. I just…"

Mike stopped and thought about what he would say next. His words often moved faster than his mind so he wanted to get this right. El raised a brow, awaiting Mike as he awkwardly glanced down at the bed to gather his emotions. He confidently looked up at her with a heart warming smile.

"I care about you, El. Ever since that night… in the rain, when Dustin and Lucas referred to you as 'The Weirdo.' You're more than just a girlfriend to me. You're everything… and… I don't want us doing these sort of things all the time. You're right, you wanting me to make you feel really good does not make you a slut, and I'm sorry I even put that thought in your head. However, I don't want to objectify you… you know, treat you like an object, like some sort of tool I can use whenever I please. You're not a tool and I don't want to use your body for pleasure, because I don't need to. Just looking at you makes me happy…"

El smiled and pecked Mike on the lips, causing Mike to blush as he was trying to figure out what else he had to say.

"And I know you may want it, but trust me, we shouldn't do it all the time. It's just really… unhealthy, especially considering our age. We're really too young to be doing these sort of things so I really don't want to overstep anything further than what happened yesterday. Do you get what I'm trying to say?" Mike asked after dumping all of his feelings onto her.

El liked that he was always very honest about when he did and didn't want to do something. It made her think about things a lot more and if it was really okay. She understood his explanation well. The only problem was El could never feel like she was getting objectified by Mike. Mike treated her so well and always made her feel good, so she'd be willing to do almost anything he requested to do with her. She was Mike's girl.

"Mike. You're so sweet. We don't have to do it all the time. But…"

El wrapped her arms around his neck and started planting kisses to his neck. Mike moved his head up to allow easier access for her.

"Maybe… sometime… we can… go somewhere… like the bus… and do it there," El said while interrupting herself multiple times to love his neck with her lips.

Mike wondered how the hell El learned to seduce him so good. Maybe it was just El being herself but he was definitely surprised; he couldn't complain though.

Mike moaned, unable to keep his penis from getting hard. El wasn't focused on his hard on as much as she was on convincing him to make her feel really good on the bus. Mike couldn't think straight as a lot of blood flowed to his dick.

"Maybe. Depends on how good you'll be," Mike replied.

Though he talked about not objectifying her, it didn't stop him from playfully teasing her every now and then, especially when he was in a certain mood. Of course she didn't mind; it often turned her on more to have him talk to her like that.

"I'll be very good," El replied while giggling, cuffing his face with both hands.

"Promise?" Mike smirked as he raised an eyebrow.

"Promise," El nodded her head and proceeded to attack his lips with hers.

\--

**Just wanna say thank you to everyone whos read the story up to this point. you are amazing and i appreciate the support and read every comment (obviously.)**


	18. 17

**JANUARY 25 1985**

Unlike most days of Mike and Eleven spending time with each other, on this Monday they ended up falling asleep on her bed. Mike was tired from school and El was tired from the extra learning she had to do as a request from Hopper.

El naturally fell asleep on Mike, resting her head on his chest while he had his arms around her.

Before El knew it she woke up, slowly picking her head up and opening her eyes to see Mike sleeping like a baby. She lightly broke away from the hold that his arms had around her so she could stand up out of bed and stretch.

El felt relieved and calm. The nap put her brain in a stress free place as she sat down in one of her chairs and continued to study Mike innocently sleeping.

There was just something so beautiful and intriguing about watching Mike sleep. He showed no anger, no sadness, no happiness; he was just there. El didn't want to wake him up so she quietly exited her room and made eggos.

Hopper was asleep in his recliner, but the noise El had been making woke him up. He got up and saw El eating eggos at the table. He wiped his eyes as he looked at El, still feeling groggy.

"El?"

"Yes?" El said as she hurried up and finished the rest of her eggos.

"It's… It's 8:40 PM, did Mike go home?" Hopper wondered while looking at his watch to tell the time.

"No."

"Um. Why not?"

"He's sleeping still," El casually replied while sipping a glass of water.

Hopper obviously didn't want Mike in the cabin past 8:00. And being that he just woke up, he was in an extra grumpy mood.

"OK, well wake him up and tell him to go home!" Hopper raised his voice.

El stood up and took steps towards Hopper. She gave him a hug and he felt forced to hug her back. She broke the hug up and gave him an unusual look of innocence with puppy dog eyes.

"I want him to stay the night. Please?" El asked as she looked up at Hopper, having desperation in her voice.

"First of all, no way. And second, if he was to stay the night, I'd have to call his parents and tell him about you. And you know I can't do that. You remember what Dr. Owens said?"

"Yes," El responded in an annoyed tone.

"Then you know it's impossible for Mike to stay the night. Maybe someday in the future, but not now," Hopper said as he playfully rubbed his hand through her hair.

El wanted to stay upset, but Hopper knew weird things that would put a smile on her face and cheer her up. Still, the upset feeling lingered as she walked back to her room and attempted to get Mike up.

El shook Mike's body, making him tiredly hum.

"Mike, get up, you have to leave."

"No," Mike barely said as he attempted to ignore her demand.

"I'm serious, Mike. It's almost 9 o'clock. Hopper said you have to leave!" El reiterated to him.

"Noooooooooo," Mike said, still half asleep with his eyes closed.

"Yeeeeess," El giggled as she took the pillow out underneath him and hit him with it.

"Stooooop," Mike begged as he started to realize he would not be able to continue sleeping in peace.

He opened his eyes to the beautiful sight of his girlfriend. She couldn't help but smile when she saw his eyes glaring up at her. Mike was still hesitant to get up. El was getting worried that Hopper would come in the room and yell at Mike, and the last thing she wanted was those two going at it.

"Come on, get up, Hopper's gonna get mad!"

"Huh? What are you talking about? Hopper loves me!"

El shook her head and chuckled. She was starting to get annoyed of Mike saying no though.

"Get up now, before Hopper comes in here and drags you out."

Mike extended his arms out to stretch and let out a yawn. He stunned El with his perfect face as his eyes stared into hers.

"A few kisses could really motivate me to get up," Mike said, basically begging her to kiss him without outright saying it.

El could've said no, should've said no, but she really couldn't. He looked too adorable to refuse. She leaned down to quickly smooch his lips two times. Mike expected more but she leaned up, much to his disappointment.

"That's it?"

El chuckled and shouted back at him.

"You said a couple!"

"OK. How about three more, but they have to be good," Mike requested while having puppy dog eyes.

El had her arms crossed, eyeing him up with shame as she began asking questions in her head.

El wasn't questioning whether or not she would give him those three kisses, because she definitely would. She was wondering how Mike had this power over her that nobody else had, including Hopper. She wondered why he chose her and not some normal girl. But the one thing she wondered about the most was the feeling she currently had while looking at Mike who had that precious smile. It was a feeling that she didn't know how to describe. That feeling was love.

El nodded her head and gave Mike the first kiss. It was fairly quick but longer than a normal smooch.

The second kiss featured Mike keeping his puckered lips on El's for a good ten seconds before releasing. El giggled in pleasure.

The third kiss surprised El. It seemed like the usual smooching, until Mike slipped his tongue between her slightly parted lips and into her mouth, making El open her eyes in shock. She instinctively parted her lips even more to make it easier for his tongue.

El naturally used her tongue in response to his as their tongues clashed together. The sloppy French kissing got more intense which made El forget about the three kiss rule. She kept letting him kiss her, enjoying it too much to simply stop. They would alternate between innocent smooches and aggressive tonsil hockey for a minute. Mike finally broke it off, having heart eyes as he stared at El with a big smile.

El was lost at first, not knowing where she was or why she was there. Then she remembered.

_oh yeah, Mike has to go home._

El tried to go back to her normal self, but the way Mike was smiling at her made it really hard.

"O-OK Mike, time to get up."

"You know what? Forget me getting up, I need you in bed with me," Mike replied and El actually thought about taking him up on that.

But she was a good girl at heart, regardless of Mike's influence on her, she was able to resist him.

"Mike!"

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. I'm getting up. See? Happy now?" Mike said as he stood up and had that smirk that El couldn't help but laugh at.

They both stood in silence as they admired each other's faces. Hopper walked in on the two, making Mike and Eleven break off their stares with one another as they turned their bodies towards Hopper.

"You gonna leave?" Hopper asked.

Mike could see that Hopper was hiding that tiny bit of rage, and he didn't want to be the one that made him unleash it.

"Yes… sir. Just talking to El a bit before I go…"

"Well hurry up. Don't need your parents getting any more suspicious than they already are," Hopper replied as he walked out of the room.

Mike and El returned their smiles to each other. Mike put a hand on the side of her face, making her blush. Mike was unable to hold in his chuckle.

"You are a really good girl, El. You really know how to motivate me. You are the best girlfriend."

El already knew he felt this way about her, but at the same time, hearing it from his mouth made her all warm and fuzzy. She passionately kissed his cheek, making him blush as he looked down and scratched his head while giggling at the feeling he had in his stomach.

"Oh, Mike. I'm so glad I'm yours."

El embraced Mike with a sweet hug that she desperately needed at that moment. Mike had his arms around her, holding her tight in order to make her feel safe.

"Yes. You're mine, El. But you're also your own person, you know that right?"

"I know who I am. I'm yours, Mike," El doubled down as she rested her head into Mike's chest.

Mike felt so lucky to find a girl who cared about him like she did. He was not going to lose her again if he could help it. He would die for her, because he knows El deserves everything. She is everything to him. Without her, his life is meaningless. But together, the world can't stop them. Side by side, it would always feel like home wherever they went.


	19. 18

**JANUARY 26 1985**

Mike and El were making out in her bed. Mike was being more aggressive than usual, moving his hands all over her body as their tongues battled for superiority. Mike felt like asking her a question.

"El?"

"Yes?"

"Can I fuck you?"

El got confused and hesitated to reply.

"What is… fuck?"

Mike would usually be embarrassed to explain something like this to El, but not this time.

"It's when a guy and girl get naked and the guy sticks his penis in the girls vagina. So can I? Can I stick my penis in your pussy, El?" Mike asked, having a confident demeanor along with a smirk as he held her hands, waiting for her response.

He thought El might say no or not know how to respond, but she simply smiled and nodded her head.

"OK."

El started taking off her shirt-

Mike's eyes opened wide as he woke up. He looked at his clock and it said 7:02 AM. Mike sighed out of frustration. He was frustrated for many reasons. That dream was so not Mike; he wouldn't just ask if he could fuck her. He'd make it sound as sweet as possible while stumbling over his words. He hated that his mind would predict him being an inconsiderate douche to El. The other thing he couldn't stand, and he had to admit it, was how the dream ended. It just started to get good! That's how dreams were though.

Mike's thoughts got drowned out by his mom's loud voice.

"MIIIIKE!!! MIIIIIKE!!! GET READY FOR SCHOOL!!!!" Karen shouted from downstairs.

"OK, MOM!!!!" Mike shouted back, sounding annoyed.

Mike went through his usual morning routine. After taking a shower, fixing his hair, brushing his teeth, he picked out whatever clothes spoke out to him at that moment and went downstairs to eat waffles. He had five minutes before he needed to leave for school.

The table featured Nancy, Holly, and Karen. Ted just got done eating and put his plate in the sink. He grabbed his newspaper and sat back down at the table. Mike thought that was odd because he'd usually leave for work right after breakfast.

Mike's plate was waiting for him at his usual seat and he slowly sat down. Mornings weren't very talkative but Mike felt it was too quiet, like someone died. Mike was in a hurry so he started eating the waffles with his hands. Nancy hated when he did that. Karen and Ted looked at each other before nodding their heads.

"Michael," Karen softly said.

Mike didn't hear her voice and continued eating like an animal.

"MIKE!" Karen shouted.

Mike dropped his half eaten eggo waffle and directed his eyes to the second most important female on this earth. El took first place last year.

"Your father and I have been talking… and… we are… wondering what's been going on with you lately?"

Mike didn't know where this was going. He gave odd looks at everyone around him.

"Nothing's going on with me…"

"It's just that… we hardly see you anymore, Michael. We hardly saw you as it was but in the last few weeks, you've been coming home late, and it's worrying me."

Mike forced out a chuckle.

"I've been going to the arcade a lot more is all."

"Oh really?" Nancy blurted out with a smirk.

Mike raised a brow at her before hearing Karen's voice and directing his attention back to her.

"Mike, I've had Nancy check on the arcade for the past week while you were apparently supposed to be there, and you weren't there. Sometimes your friends were, but never you."

Mike's face couldn't hide the guilt he felt. They caught him in a lie, a big lie. He was too embarrassed to say anything.

"Mike, we need to know what's been going on? Where have you been going?" Karen asked, extremely concerned for her beautiful boy.

Mike couldn't just outright tell them about El, but it would be his ass if he wasn't' somewhat truthful. Being in a vulnerable position, he had to tell the truth.

"Your mother is worried sick, son. Please, tell the truth," Ted said, finally breaking his silence when Karen gave him a look to say something.

Mike sighed and finally gave in.

"I've been seeing this girl…"

Ted and Karen's eyes widened in shock while Holly kept on doing what she usually did. Nancy had a smirk the entire time, already knowing who the girl was.

Ted almost spat out the milk he was drinking when he heard Mike say that.

"Girl? Like, girlfriend?" Karen struggled with her words, trying to hide the relief and excitement she had.

"Yes. I… have a girlfriend," Mike confirmed,

Karen started clapping maniacally, scaring Mike to death. Karen always wanted him to find a girl. She wanted to be a grandmother one day. She most certainly needed to meet this girl that Mike's been spending a lot of time with.

"Girlfriend? Are we sure it's female?" Ted joked.

Karen felt too relieved to even hear what Ted said.

"That's great, son! We thought you were doing drugs!" Karen laughed out loud.

"So this girl. Do I know her?" Karen asked, not attempting to hide her excitement any longer.

"No. She's uh, new here."

"Can I meet her?!"

"MOM!" Mike shouted in annoyance.

He knew she would immediately want to meet El, and that was the problem with her knowing.

"Can you at least tell me her name? Anything? I just wanna know if this girl you're spending a lot of time with is good for you."

"She is, don't worry," Mike simply replied and stood up to show he was done with the conversation.

"How about a phone call? I just want to talk to her. I promise I won't embarrass you," Karen said.

Mike sighed again, facepalming as he realized she wasn't gonna stop annoying him about El. A phone call would be perfect. She wouldn't have to know where she is, who she is, who she's with. It's just the two of them talking. And then hopefully his mom can shut up about the entire thing when she knows how sweet El is.

"Fine. One phone call… tomorrow! And that's it," Mike said, sounding like he was the authoritative figure.

"Of course," Karen smiled and nodded while watching Mike march out of the house.

Mike went to the cabin after school like always. He had a lot of things to explain to El. Instead of immediately saying that his mom is gonna talk to her on the phone tomorrow, he decided to ease her into that conversation. By easing El into the conversation, that basically means kissing her ferociously as she says the magic word 'Eggos' four or five times, not getting enough of Mike. But the time for play had to come to an end, he ended up staring into her eyes as they sat up in bed, and he realized that now was the time to break the news.

"My mom wants to talk to you," Mike blurts out, completely changing the tone.

"Huh?"

"My mom. They ended up forcing me to confess that I have a girlfriend and now my mom really wants to talk to you."

"So I can meet her?" El wondered, surprisingly taking in the news well.

"You'll talk to her over the phone. Like, she doesn't need to know WHO you are or who you live with it," Mike explained, unsurprisingly stumping El.

"What do I say then?" El asked.

"Just like, talk about when we met and how long we've been together…"

Mike had to think about what he said. If El honestly told his mom how long they've been together, she would say over a year.

"On second thought, I'm just gonna be by your side. If you ever get confused or don't know how to answer, just ask me, all right?"

El hesitated before nodding.

"Here's the number, put that somewhere safe so you don't lose it."

El stood up and put the slip of paper on her desk.

"Is your mother nice?" El asked with a smile.

Mike stood up from the bed and walked up to her.

"She's really nice, like, annoyingly nice. She'll like you, I just know it!" Mike said as he grinned at her.

Mike wanted to be optimistic, hoping everything would turn out fine, but at the same time he knew how easily this could turn south.


	20. 19

**JANUARY 27 1985**

Mike internally panicked as he sat on the edge of El's bed. He just got done with school and rode to El's cabin. Mike wanted to get the phone call over with so he kept on begging El until she finally agreed a couple of hours later.

She had the phone up to her face, the top part being on her ear and the bottom part around her mouth. The line of the phone was longer than usual, so she was able to bring it into her room.

She dialed the number Mike gave her moments before. She wasn't as good at hiding her emotions as Mike was. She looked down at Mike, scared of conversing with his mom, the woman who brought her Mikey into the world.

The ringing felt constant. It seemed like her heart paused during the silence whenever there wasn't ringing. And then it happened.

"Hello?"

El's eyes widened as she forced herself to look away from Mike because she knew his face would distract her.

"Hi," El shyly said.

There was an awkward pause and El could totally feel it.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"Oh. Sorry! My name is …"

El didn't know what to say already so she directed her eyes to Mike for help.

"Just say El," Mike whispered.

El nodded her head.

"El. My name is El."

"Oh. OK. But uh, why exactly are you calling?" Mike's mom replied, starting to get impatient with the random phone call.

"I'm… Well. I'm Mike's girlfriend and he said you wanted to talk to me."

Karen's mood changed instantly. She put on more light hearted and kind voice.

"Mike's girlfriend?! Oh my god, I'm so sorry, I had no idea!" Karen had to refrain from screaming.

"Yes. I'm Mike's girlfriend," El replied nervously.

"It's so nice to meet you! … Over the phone anyway. Gosh, you have a very sweet voice… is your name El? Is that short for something?" Karen wondered after complimenting El's gentle voice.

El smiled at Mike's mom complimenting her. Then she realized what Karen was asking for and panicked again. She held the phone down to her legs as she whispered to Mike again.

"She wants to know if El's my name and if it's short for something!?"

Mike could see the panic in her eyes as she looked to him for the right answer. Mike didn't take long to think of something.

"Say that you don't like people calling you by your first name, and you like being called El, short for Eleanor, your middle name."

El nodded her head, surprised at how much sense that makes.

"It's my middle name, Eleanor. El is short for that. I don't like people calling me by my first name," El explained.

"Ahh, I knew people exactly like that. Very understandable, El. So, my name is Karen, I'm Mike's mom, obviously," Karen said as she giggled.

"Hi, Karen."

"Yeah, nice to meet you, El. So I know this all could be a bit odd, you know, me wanting to talk to you. But you're with my son and I just wanted to make sure you weren't badly influencing him. You understand?"

"I understand." El casually replied.

"So… Well, actually, now that I know that you're not some witch stealing my son's soul, I was hoping to meet you in person some time?" Karen asked in a questionable tone.

El looked to Mike for answers.

"She wants to meet me in person," El whispered.

"No, absolutely not!" Mike whispered back with authority.

During El's silence, Karen felt the need to add on to what she was saying, afraid she might of scared off El.

"I know Mike wouldn't like it, and I get that. But I just think I should have the right to meet my son's girlfriend face to face. I get it. Mike's probably there telling you no, but just think about it, El."

"O-OK," El replied as she looked back at Mike.

Karen grinned over the phone, wanting to know more about El and their relationship.

"So Mike said you don't go to his school, you live out of town?:

"...Yes…"

"So how did you two meet?" Karen asked.

El knew she couldn't tell the truth. Too many demogorgons and demodogs in that story.

She looked to Mike again and whispered.

"She wants to know how we met?!"

"No! I mean, just say it's complicated!" Mike whispered back.

El nodded her head and talked into the phone again.

"No, it's too complicated," El replied, faking a chuckle.

"I have time, sweetie."

Mike and El heard the sound of the door opening. It had to be Hopper.

El went silent and panicked on the inside while staring at Mike, forgetting what Karen had said.

Hopper would usually yell something when he got home, knowing Mike and El were most likely in her room, doing all kinds of things that he didn't want them to do. The two teens were not ready for this situation.

"HELLO!!! GUESS WHO'S HOME?!!!" Hopper yelled, somewhat joking but also a little angry at how close the two teens always were.

Unfortunately for the three of them, Karen heard Hopper's voice over the phone. She didn't pick up on who it was even though he sounded familiar. She assumed it was El's dad.

"I'm guessing that's your father?" Karen said while laughing.

She would of looked to Mike for what to say, however she felt comfortable this one time and didn't feel the need to

"Um. Yes."

"UM? I SAID GUESS WHO'S HOME?!!!" Hopper yelled again.

Mike snapped his fingers, trying to get El's attention without being loud. He was lip synching "Get off the phone" and El quickly understood what he was trying to say. She nodded her head and went back to the phone call.

"Well, my dad is calling, I have to go."

"Oh, alright. Well, it was nice meet-"

"HOPPER'S HOME!!!" Hopper yelled.

Hopper did not take being ignored by his daughter and boyfriend too well. It either meant that they were doing something inappropriate or… well, just that.

Karen heard the name drop of Hopper and became interested in who this person was.

"Wait?! Hopper? Your father is Jim Hopper?! Chief of police?!" Karen said, sounding shocked.

El had to think quickly.

"Huh?! No, no no……. my father is a different Hopper," El replied as she was unable to hide her nervous voice.

"YEP, YOUR FAVORITE CHIEF OF POLICE, JIM HOPPER, IS HOME."

"It is Jim!" Karen said.

"OKAY!!" El shouted angrily, forgetting she was still on the phone with Karen.

"I have to go. Bye."

"Oh, alright. Feel free to-"

Karen stopped talking when she heard the sound of El hanging up.

Hopper walked into her room and grinned at what he saw.

"Who are you talking to?" Hopper asked.

"Um."

El didn't want to admit it to Hopper, and although Mike had no clue what Karen said, he pretty much knew Karen heard him…

El looked at Hopper with fear in her eyes.

"We might have a problem," El's voice shook with worry.

After El explained the situation to Hopper, he sat down in his la-z-boy and contemplated what to do next in his mind. Mike and El thought he was going crazy as he remained silent for several minutes. They were too scared to interrupt whatever he was thinking.

"So you're sure she knows it was me?" Hopper blurted out as he looked at El.

"We definitely know her options are narrowed down, you know, because of the whole I'm Jim Hopper, the chief of police thing?" Mike answered back, showing his annoyance towards Hopper.

Hopper stared evilly at Mike, warning him with his eyes to be careful about what he says.

"All right. I got it," Hopper said as he looked up at the two teens with a smirk on his face.

Mike and El turned heads to one another as they wondered what Hopper had up his sleeve, if he had anything to begin with.

_15 minutes later_

Hopper stood at the Wheeler's front door with Mike and El standing behind him side by side.

It wasn't much of a plan as it was a power move by Hopper. He figured that if Karen already knew, he had to talk to her about it himself. And why not bring along the teenage couple as well?

Mike rode to the house using his bike and Hopper drove El there in his police vehicle. The whole ride there, Hopper kept warning El not to talk too much and let him do the talking. She was so new to human interaction. Interacting with anyone outside of Hopper, Mike, and Mike's friend group seemed like a challenge for the telekinetic teen. All her brain can do is second guess herself and be paranoid about if the person she's talking to knows who she really is.

After ringing the door twice, Karen opened it and greeted Hopper with a smile. She saw that Mike and a girl were behind him, only confusing her on if this was real life or a dream. Hopper saw her bewildered face and nodded while having a sarcastic grin.

"Yeah, it's better if we come inside and explain this," Hopper said.

Karen had been too stunned by the sight and moved to the side so Hopper and the two teenagers could come in. Dinner had just been made so Karen decided to treat her special guests well as she invited them to the dinner table. Hopper graciously accepted. Ted brought more chairs to the table to accommodate their guests.

El was sitting in the middle of Mike and Nancy while Ted and Karen were on the other side. Hopper sat between them all, being near Nancy and Karen.

Nancy was holding in her smile as she looked at El, knowing how much her brother liked her. It was too adorable for her to handle sometimes. Mike was great with animals, and he could make Holly laugh without trying. Holly called for Mike instead of Nancy whenever she was curious about something or wondering what something was. Mike was just born to have a caring, gentle soul. All of this taken into account, Nancy knew Mike would be an excellent boyfriend. And his girlfriend was El! How ironic that Mike essentially treated El like a stray dog when he found her, and now he's making out with her.

But alas, they were all at the table. The silence made everyone feel weird. Karen knew that the young girl beside Mike was El. She couldn't believe her son found a girl as pretty as El.

Mike and El ate their food and remained silent as the adults talked.

"So, yeah. I heard about the phone call you and El had," Hopper said while looking at Karen.

Karen awkwardly nodded her head while drinking a glass of water.

"Um, yeah. I had no idea, Hopper. I mean- I have so many questions-"

"I know, I know. That's why I'm here. Karen…………….. Ted……….."

Upon hearing his name, Ted turned his head to Hopper. The chicken would have to wait.

Hopper forgot that Karen and Ted had no idea that Nancy already knew about El, so he played along and looked at her with a serious face.

"Nancy….."

Nancy nodded her head, pretending this was such a shock.

"I adopted El over a year ago. After Will went missing, it reminded me of my life… with Sara."

Karen had too much emotion to let that sentence pass.

"I'm sorry, Hopp."

"I don't want a pity party. I've moved on from that. It hurts, but… the hurt is good. After Will went missing, I felt like what I used to feel like with Sara. I came out of the dark cave, and… after Will got rescued, I didn't want to go back into that cave of emptiness. So I… adopted El from the nearest orphanage."

Hopper was fighting off tears but had to sacrifice his voice breaking uncontrollably every now and then from stuffing his emotions.

"That's wonderful! Isn't that wonderful, Ted?" Karen asked as she glanced at Ted, his mouth being full with chicken.

"That's beautiful, Karen," Ted said, having a muffled voice from the food in his mouth.

Karen sighed and looked at Hopper, too emotionally attached to his story to drop it.

"I'm happy for you Hopper! Now if you don't mind me asking, was there a particular reason why you adopted El? Did anything stand out about her?" Karen wondered.

Hopper rubbed the hair on his chin, chuckling as he thought of the perfect answer.

"Besides her being the most adorable girl in the world, there is a lot of backstory to her. It's way too traumatic to get into much detail, but keeping the story short, she came from a bad place… from some bad people. They um. They treated her almost like a…"

Hopper paused when he saw El's face get upset. She didn't want to hear about her past life, before Mike, before Hopper. It was almost like she started to get PTSD flashbacks of that life.

The lab………. Small room………….. Papa's girl………….

Mike noticed she was on the verge of tears and had to put a stop to it.

"Can me and El be excused to my room until you're ready to leave? Please?" Mike asked while his eyes told Hopper that El was gonna break down.

Hopper would usually say no. But under unusual circumstances, he had to get El out of the room while he tried to dig himself out of this hole.

"OK," Karen and Hopper said at the same time.

Mike grabbed El's hand as they both stood up and ran upstairs to Mike's room.

Hopper continued the conversation once they were out of sight.

"Anyways, they treated her like… a pet, a dog…"

"Jesus!" Karen said, gasping while putting a hand over her mouth.

"Yeah. She barely knew vocabulary other than the basics, like Yes, No. She couldn't even tell time at 12 years old! Those sick fucks!" Hopper said while being unable to control his temper, knowing he lost his temper and immediately forced himself to apologize.

"I'm sorry for the outburst, it just ticks me off how they treated an innocent girl like that."

"It's fine, Hopp. We'd feel the same way if something happened to Michael."

Even Ted couldn't concentrate on his chicken at this point. El's trauma had brought him into reality for once.

"Let's not think about that, Karen," Ted said as he grabbed her hand with passion.

Hopper admired the love that Karen and Ted shared at that moment. He hoped to find a lady to hold hands with like that. Joyce came to mind, but he wanted to give her some much needed space after Bob's death. The thoughts still roamed in the back of his head…

Hopper needed to continue on with his explanation of adopting El. And he really wanted to hurry up and finish because he didn't trust Mike and El alone in his room.

"I know this all seems out of the blue, but I don't want this information getting out to anyone. I'm not ready to tell people about this. I need time. That's why I moved just out of town into a cabin. It's cheap and nobody knows about El. I need you guys to keep this a secret. Nobody needs to know about this that doesn't live in this house? We got that?" Hopper said as he eyed Ted, Karen, and Nancy.

They all nodded their heads in agreement.

"I mean it. Don't tell anyone. Not even a close friend who you think can keep a secret. I mean NO ONE. You understand?"

Karen smiled at Hopper and nodded her head again.

"Yes, Hopp, we understand. We won't tell anyone. We know how serious this is to you. Just one question."

Karen paused to sip her glass of water before continuing.

"How did Mike and El meet if she lives out of town?" Karen asked a good question.

Luckily for Hopper, he devised answers to basic questions like this on the ride there.

"This is- oh, I don't know, maybe two or three months ago. El starts rebelling against me like all teenagers do. She walks into town and meets Mike who had been riding on his bike. Next thing you know, they start becoming a thing, and she starts bringing him to the cabin. Well, then he met me and of course, things got awkward. I had to have a long talk with him," Hopper explained.

Karen's eyes widened with interest.

"Wow! Are things getting serious between them?!" Karen asked with enthusiasm, almost sounding like a fangirl.

"Unfortunately I think so. Mike is just a natural with her. He's a good kid, just a little rough around the edges."

"Believe me, that's the Wheeler way," Karen replied as her and Nancy giggled together.

As Hopper talked to Mike's family, Mike lead El into his room. She didn't cry although she wanted to. Seeing Mike's room after so long made her feel nostalgic and happy.

"This… is your room…"

"Yeah…"

"It's been so long…"

She walked to his closet, just staring it down, remembering the memories that it brought.

"The first promise," El mumbled.

"What?" Mike walked up to her, wondering what she was going on about.

El turned around and looked up to meet his eyes with a heart warming smile.

"The first time you promised to me. You made me hide in there because of your mom and I was so scared. But you made a promise to me, and that made everything all right in the end," El pecked mike on the lips and walked to his bed.

She bent over and took a huge whiff of his sheets. Mike raised a brow at how odd that looked.

"MMM. It smells just like you," El said, having a wide grin.

She walked back to Mike and put her arms around his neck and pulls him in for an emotional hug. Mike knew that this was her first home. If he showed her the spot in the basement where she used to sleep, she would freak out, and Mike knew that.

Hopper said something downstairs at the table that kept bothering Mike. He didn't know why but he felt the need to ask El about it.

"Who is Sara?" Mike asked as they broke off the hug and stared deep into each others eyes.

"Hopp's daughter," El simply replied in a sad tone.

"What happened to her? Did she die?!" Mike wondered, actually feeling sorry for Hopper.

El glanced down at the floor and sighed before answering.

El remembered that night she closed the gate. On the ride there with Hopper, she learned about Sara and how he explained that the black hole killed her.

"The black hole got her."

"Huh?!" Mike said, not knowing if he was missing something.

"Nothing," El shyly replied as she started to question what she said.

Mike saw those sad eyes. Those beautiful, sad eyes left too much of an impression on him. He leaned in and kissed her without warning. El willingly accepted the make-out challenge, tugging on the hair on the back of his head as her tongue found his. The scenario of Mike making out with El in his room was raising his testosterone levels. He grabbed her ass cheeks as he continued dominating her mouth. El broke off the kiss, panting; she needed to ask him something.

"I want to make you feel good," El said in a low pitched voice while panting.

Mike knew this wasn't the time or place for such acts. He shook his head no while giving her a look of disapproval.

"El, we've been through this-"

"I know, Mike. You don't want to treat me like a slut. You don't want us to do things that adults are supposed to do. But I need this. I need to make you feel good. Please, don't make me beg," El said in a desperate tone.

She cupped her hand around his cheek, staring up into his eyes with need, wanting to please him, wanting to show him how much she cared about him. Mike could talk all day about how they aren't supposed to do certain things, but looking down into those beautiful brown eyes, he didn't have the power to say no.

He nodded his head, gulping at the realization of what was about to happen.

"So……. What do I do? How do I make you feel good?" El asked.

Mike had heard of things like handjobs and blowjobs from Dustin a few years back. He even found a dirty VHS tape while his mom and dad were away for vacation, forcing Nancy to babysit him. Not really babysitting when she's out with her friends, leaving Mike to care for Holly. He found the tape and watched it. All of it. The things he saw on that tape scarred him forever. Never would he imagine that he could be the lucky recipient to one of these "jobs."

Mike took El's hand and put it on his crotch. He started moving her hand in a circular motion. The friction of her hand against the crotch area through his pants was making him hard.

"Just keep rubbing it like this. It'll get me hard," Mike mumbled, then moaned at the pleasure as his member hardened.

El followed his directions, not wanting to disobey him. He deserved to feel good. She licked her lips while continuing to rub the area. Mike felt it get fully hard and removed her hand from his crotch. El was disappointed at first, but she saw Mike's reaction to her doing that. His smile was everything.

"Um. I guess now, you like, can maybe like, get on your knees? If you want?" Mike asked, not trying to sound like a pig.

"On my knees?" El wondered where this was going but wasn't against it.

"Yeah. Only if you want to?"

El didn't hesitate to get on her knees, looking up at Mike with anticipation, then she stared at his crotch directly in front of her. She could see the hard on through his clothes. Mike was gonna lose it at the sight of El being on her knees, but he had to hold it in, at least for a little longer.

He unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, all while keeping eye contact with her. He dropped the pants down to his ankles. El saw the hard on trying to escape his underwear. She bit her lip, wanting to see it. It had been several months since she saw it from her visits from the void.

Mike froze with his hands on his underwear, ready to pull it down and show El his penis in all its glory.

He took a deep breath, suddenly pulling his underwear down in the blink of an eye.

El was flabbergasted at the sight. She noticed the difference between several months ago and now. It was honestly a little frightening for her. It was hard just for her. That made El tingly. Even though she only saw it in the void when it was soft, she had to admire its length and girth.

"I……. I don't remember it being this big," El honestly replied, feeling scared of his manhood.

"My height isn't the only thing that grew," Mike chuckled as he gained self-confidence from her reaction.

El analyzed it while biting her lip with lust. She didn't know why she felt so weird. It was just a penis. All boys had one. But this was Mike's penis…. And one word came to mind to describe it.

She looked at his penis while talking, almost like she was more interested in his manhood than Mike himself. El licked her lips.

"It's beautiful."

"Uhhh, thanks," Mike awkwardly replied.

"What now?" El asked as she finally returned her eyes to his.

"Now you can…. .well……. You know……. Just grab it-"

"EL, IT'S TIME TO GO!" Hopper screamed from downstairs.

Mike wanted to cry when he heard Hopper's voice, and El made things worse by standing up.

"No, please don't go," Mike begged with his underwear and pants still down to his ankles as his penis started to go soft.

"I'm sorry, Mike. Hopper can't get su-spicious. Another time?" El didn't want him to be upset, and she definitely wanted to see his penis again and make him feel good.

Mike disappointingly nodded his head. He watched as El opened his door. She looked behind her to smile at Mike.

"See you soon."

"See you soon, El…"

El closed the door and left.

Mike sighed and stared at his softening member. He shook his head, knowing how close she was to touching it. He mumbled in frustration.

"Hopper, you goddamn cockblocker."


	21. 20

**JANUARY 28 1985**

Mike wasted no time when he arrived at El's cabin after school. He ran into her room and attacked her mouth, forcing her onto the bed with him. They savagely kissed as their tongues collided. El also hated how yesterday ended. She needed to touch it…

She felt his breath hitting her neck as he sucked on it. She didn't even say eggos, he just felt like doing it. El put her hands through his hair and rubbed it as a response to his affection. They were both getting hot, and El couldn't handle the heat for long. With Mike on top of her, she pulled his face up to meet hers, then she leaned in to continue sloppily french kissing him. Mike instinctively put his hand on one of her breasts, immediately having regret and removing it.

El continued to rub her hand through his hair, using her free hand to reach under his body and grab his crotch. It was a very aggressive grab as she started rubbing the area in a circular motion. Mike was caught off guard as his eyes widened. He let out a shocked moan, not expecting her to take it this far.

"Ahhhh, oooooh, El. Shit."

El giggled and continued rubbing it through his pants. She loved his moans and quick smiles of pleasure that he would show now and then. It meant that she was pleasing him, and she would do anything to please him. She felt his penis getting hard, becoming very excited at seeing it again and possibly touching it.

"Ahhh. Shit. Shit."

El decided to go for it. She took her hand off of his hair and used both hands to unbutton his pants. Mike's pleasure turned into shock, then anger shortly afterward. He pushed her hands off of his pants and stood up in a panic. He quickly buttoned up his pants as he tried to think clearly.

"Jesus, El!"

"What's wrong?" El asked as she slowly stood up from the bed to face him.

"You can't just do that!"

"What?!" El wondered, curious as to what could have made him so upset.

"Unbutton my pants? What were you planning to do?!"

El put a hand on his shoulder as she hoped her smile would calm him down.

"I was gonna touch it…. Like you wanted me to do yesterday."

El took her hand off of his shoulder and lowered it down to his crotch, rubbing it while staring into Mike's eyes. He started to lose self-control, but he was able to fight her seduction and remove her hand from his crotch again.

"No! We can't!"

El was devastated. She wondered why he wouldn't let her pleasure him.

"Why not?!"

"Because, like…… I'm a disgusting person. And you already know we shouldn't be doing stuff like this. If Hopper catches us he will fucking kill me!"

El thought he was exaggerating.

"He's not gonna kill you," El replied while letting out a chuckle.

"Yes. Yes, he will. And if he saw us doing the things that I want to do to you, oh man, he might torture me before he kills me!" Mike replied, being completely serious about the possibility of Hopper killing him.

El didn't like Mike's attitude towards Hopper. She always tried to forget about how he felt about Hopp but his comments about him kept reminding her. She let out a sigh.

"Mike, he won't hurt you…"

"You don't get it! He will shoot me in the face on instinct if he sees my you know what in your hand!"

"Mike…"

"Jesus, El. He kept me away from you for almost a year, he's an asshole just waiting to have a reason to beat me up or kill me!"

"IT'S NOT HIS FAULT!" El shouted out of nowhere, making Mike's body freeze.

"What?!"

"It's not his fault you didn't see me for a year. He was trying to protect me, and you. He didn't want to risk me being in danger or me putting you in danger. He was doing what he thought was best for us!" El explained as she tried to get Mike to cool down about Hopper.

Although Mike froze out of shock from El's outburst, he couldn't ignore her defending Hopper. He shook his head with a look of disgust.

"Bullshit."

"How is it bullshit, Mike?"

"It just is! Do you really think he couldn't have driven me out here and explained everything?! It's bullshit. He just didn't want me to be with you," Mike explained, letting more of his hate spill out of his mouth.

"Really? That's what you think?" El replied as she hated Mike's current attitude. It made him seem unrecognizable from the caring boy she fell for.

They both were showing anger on their faces. They had finally disagreed so much on something that it made them mad.

"Yes. And you know what else?"

"What?"

"I think he wanted you all to himself!" Mike shouted.

El was baffled by Mike's theory. Why would Hopper want to have her all to himself?!

"What are you talking about?!"

"Oh, do I have to spell it out for you?! He's just trying to make up for what happened to Sara. He sees you as a replacement and a way to make peace with himself. Nothing more. And he doesn't want to lose you as he did with Sara, and god forbid if he let you have a boyfriend. He wants to control you."

El was incredibly hurt by Mike's comments. She wasn't even angry anymore, just hurt. She knew Mike wasn't completely false, but claiming Hopper didn't care enough for El was crossing the line.

Her hurt turned into an uncharacteristic moment of uncontrolled rage.

"FUCK YOU!"

Mike had no words for what he heard her say. It hurt him so much to see her so angry at him. He knew he said too much, unleashing too many hateful emotions at one time. He wasn't in the right state of mind. He was still angry but he had to leave before things got worse.

"I need to go…"

Mike started to walk to the front door. El's anger turned into regret when she realized he was leaving. She didn't want him to leave, she needed him. Mike had already opened the door as El ran after him.

"Mike, wait!"

El ran outside and put a hand on his shoulder before he went down the steps, making him turn around and look down at her.

"El. I have to go."

"W-Where are you going? Is-Is it what I said?!"El wondered, her heart beating too fast to think.

Mike hadn't looked her in the eye the entire time when he turned to face her. His head was down as his eyes were closed. He opened his eyes and slowly moved his head up to see El's eyes.

"I already struck a nerve with you and I don't want to say anything else that'll make you hate me more than you already do!" Mike said as he walked to his bike while trying to contain his anger from getting worse.

El wanted to cry. He was done with her. She saw it in her SOAPs all the time, but she never thought Mike would be done with her. Ever. Her body froze, completely in shock while watching him get on the bike. She managed to get some more words out of her mouth in a last-ditch effort.

"Please don't leave me. Don't leave, Mike!" El shouted while looking at him with puppy dog eyes.

He wasn't mad because of the disagreement about Hopper anymore; that still lingered but it wasn't as important as him making the love of his life curse at him. He couldn't be there with her at the moment. He had too many thoughts that he didn't trust.

"I can't be with you right now. I need to be alone."

With that, Mike struggled to look away from her but did.

"Mike, please don't leave!" El shouted, but Mike had already taken off.

El prevented herself from crying until he left. Then she ran into her room and jumped face-first into her bed, screaming into her pillow while getting it wet with her tears.

El thought it was her fault. She shouldn't have cursed at him. She never got angry at Mike, but there was a first time for everything. El had learned those kinds of words from Dustin the few times she was with him when he couldn't shut up. The whole group had been saying things like that and especially Mike.

El thought she was so stupid. Everything was going so well with her and Mike and then she had to ruin it by defending Hopp, knowing how much Mike hated him. She cried for an hour straight until she got so tired that her crying made her take a nap.

Hopper got home and did his usual act, but he was pleasantly surprised when he found El sleeping and Mike was nowhere in sight.

He couldn't complain. It was odd for her to still be in bed around dinner time. He attempted so many dinners before he found out what types of food she would eat. She loved all the unhealthy foods, of course. She wasn't the biggest fan of onions, to say the least. El wasn't a big fan of mustard and gravy, but she liked other condiments like ketchup. He forced her to eat things other than Eggos.

Hopper was spending less and less as he started saving up money. He didn't know exactly why he was saving up. Maybe it was so he could buy a house one day, maybe he could help out with El's college tuition if she'd even be allowed. He just thought it was a good idea to save money as a backup. Because of this, he had been buying cheap foods like Hamburger Helper. El oddly liked Hamburger Helper a lot which freaked out Hopper. It was a few months away from topping Eggos. So he cooked it again and woke up El when it was ready.

Several minutes of sitting at the table made him realize something was off about El. She looked dreadful, only holding her head up from the hand she had placed on one side of her face as she held the fork with the other hand.

"You're not eating. Is something wrong?" Hopper wondered.

"No…."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes…"

Hopper could tell she was lying. It was a bit too obvious.

"Did Mike not visit today? Is something going on between you two?"

"Why do you care?" El mumbled as she rolled her eyes at him.

Hopper wanted to scold her for being disrespectful, however, he was in no mood to discipline.

"I care because I don't like seeing you grumpy. Did he do something to you?" Hopper asked as he thought Mike was responsible.

"What?!" El replied, feeling insulted that Hopper immediately went to blame Mike. Mike's words were starting to ring true in her head.

"Mike. Did he say something? Did he hit you?"

"NO!"

El stood up in protest. She was too emotionally upset to have a calm discussion with Hopper.

"You think Mike would hit me?! Are you stupid?!"

Hopper refrained from getting upset, understanding he wasn't gonna win her with anger.

"No….. You haven't told me what's wrong, kid. I'm just trying to figure out what's going on," Hopper said, slightly raising his voice.

"Why do you hate Mike so much?!" El randomly blurted out.

"What?! I don't hate Mike!"

"Bullshit!"

"LANGUAGE!" Hopper shouted and stood up to show he was done playing nice.

"You treat him like crap! You don't think he deserves me! You hate him," El emotionally shouted as her voice broke.

"What are you talking about?!?!"

"He's perfect! He's perfect looking, perfect per-so-nality, and he cares about me more than you do!"

"I care about you a lot, El!" Hopper shouted, sounding more upset than angry at her words.

El stood silently as she stared intensely at Hopper.

"El. Look, I'm sorry that I haven't been the nicest to Mike. But it goes both ways. He wasn't being nice to me either…"

El wanted to curse at him as she did to Mike, but she knew it would end badly; as hopper once said, her actions have consequences. Instead, she grunted and shook her head.

"You never once thought to tell Mike that I was alright when he thought I died!"

Hopper was getting more surprised at her comments like there was an earthquake in the cabin that kept getting worse.

"I didn't know how serious things were between you two! You guys were just little kids back then; you're still kids now! How was I supposed to know Mike was going through hell?!" Hopper wondered.

"Me visiting him and telling you that he misses me?! How about you having a serious talk with him aftergraf-fi-ti-ingthe bathroom stall?! You didn't figure out that it was serious then?!"

Hopper remembered the day he had that long talk with Mike after he got in trouble for graffitiing the bathroom stall. Mike was so upset and going through so much pain from losing El, he decided to turn the sadness into anger and rebel against authority. Nothing mattered anymore to him anyway. Hopper heard about Mike getting in trouble from various sources and had to have a one on one talk with him.

He asked Mike if he was depressed and having suicidal thoughts and Mike said no. Hopper couldn't tell if he was fully telling the truth but from Mike's demeanor, it didn't look like he was suicidal. He was just upset and angry from losing his first crush.

Hopper never once contemplated telling Mike about El or letting him know she's okay. It was just something he never saw as an option. And he regretted having that thought process after Mike started pushing and punching Hopper, crying in his arms afterward. The moment he hugged a crying Mike was the moment he realized he fucked up. All he thought about was El, he completely forgot about Mike and didn't pay attention to his feelings. After that day he felt responsible for both of them. It's why he could never really do anything bad to Mike because he saw the pain that he put Mike in and didn't want him to go through that again.

So Hopper really couldn't talk his way out of that comment.

"OK. I messed up. I should have told him. But I was just worried. I was worried he might tell his friends, and the next thing you know, the whole damn town knows I'm sheltering a girl! I didn't want anyone else to be in danger. Not you, not Mike, not anyone!"

El sighed, tired of the back and forth bickering. They would continue going in circles. She had to lie down and get some rest.

"I'm not in the mood to eat. I'm going to bed. Goodnight."

El walked to her room and slammed the door shut with her powers.

"LEFTOVERS WILL BE IN THE FRIDGE WHEN YOU'RE HUNGRY!" Hopper yelled, slamming his closed fist on the table in frustration.

El lay down in bed and depressingly fell asleep. She was sleeping well, until 3:33 A.M.

_3:33 AM_

_"El, are you there? El? It's me. It's Mike. It's day 352, 7:40 P.M. If you're out there, say something. Or give me a sign. I won't even say anything. Just……. I wanna know if you're okay."_

_*Silence*_

_*Silence*_

_"Mike?"_

_"El?"_

_"Mike?!"_

_"EL?"_

_"MIKE!!! MIKE!!! PLEASE MIKE!!!!! HELP!!!!!! HELP!!!!!!! MIIIIIIIIKKEEEEE!!!!!"_

_"EL WHERE ARE YOU?!?!?!?? EL PLEASE, I LOVE YOU!!!"_

_"IT'S TOO LATE!!!! MIIIIIIIKEEEEEEE!!!!!!!"_

___

Mike woke up from his nightmare, wiping the sweat from his face as he kept panting. He picked up his walkie talkie, needing to talk with El. He couldn't wait until tomorrow, it had to be now.

"El? Are you there? El? Can you hear me? El? I wanna talk... "

El woke up and only heard the last sentence. She stood up and ran to pick up her walkie talkie from her desk.

"I'm here, Mike."

Mike smiled over the walkie. Hearing her beautiful feminine voice gave him chills. He couldn't stop himself from chuckling.

"I'm so glad you picked up."

"I thought you didn't want me anymore," El said while still feeling groggy.

"Huh? Of course, I want you. Why would you think that?"

El lied back in bed as she held the walkie. All of her brains focused on listening to Mike, the nerves causing her heart rate to slow.

"You said you wanted to be alone. I thought you didn't want me anymore."

"No-no-no-no-no, I needed to be alone because I didn't want to make you more upset than you already were. I obviously crossed the line and deserved what I got."

"You didn't deserve it. I lost my tem-per. It's my fault. I'm sorry," El replied, refusing to let Mike take the blame.

"But it is my fault, El. I'm not perfect, I make mistakes. I said a lot of things I wish I didn't. I let my feelings get the best of me, and like, a lot of things I said about Hopper, I still meant a lot of that, but I took it to another level and said things that weren't true and made it sound like he was the worst person in the world, when he's not. You're right. He was just trying to protect us. It's my fault. I'm sorry," Mike explained and took a deep breath.

El smiled with her eyes closed from hearing his apology. Even when he shows his flaws he's perfect.

"Yeah. Everything's just so confusing. I wish you two could get along…"

"I do, too. But it's hard. Those 353 days were cruel, El. So cruel. There were some nights where I went to sleep hoping I wouldn't wake up. There were other times I thought about ending it all…"

"Don't say that, Mike!" El immediately fired back.

"I know you don't like me saying that stuff, but it's true. The only thing that kept me from ending it, the only thing that gave me hope…... Was you. I just kept hoping that you were alive. I was starting to give up hope. I'm so glad I didn't. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me. I'd rather die than go through those 353 days again. A life without you… is no life at all…"

It was like someone was cutting onions as her eyes watered, and she hated onions. She's the reason he didn't end it all. She's the reason he still had hope in the world. El is his everything, his only thing.

"Mike. I want to hug you right now. I want to kiss you," El said, trying to stop the crying from getting worse as she dried her eyes off with her hand.

"I want to do everything with you, El."

"Everything?" El asked, hoping for confirmation.

"Yes. Anything and everything."

El felt giddy and began to feel tingly.

"I want to kiss you…"

"Yeah. I wanna kiss you, too. I wish I could do it right now."

It felt like another spirit was controlling El because she did not feel like her usual self as she sighed, wondering what was making her feel like this.

"Mike…?"

"Yeah, El?"

"Is it bad if I want to kiss your penis?"

That was not something a teenage boy wanted to hear at 3:00 AM. He would never fall asleep now.

"Um. Well. I don't know. Do you want to kiss my penis?" Mike asked, unsure about how he was supposed to respond to that.

"...Yes. It's so beautiful. I want to touch it… and kiss it. I want to make you feel good. You deserve it for being perfect."

Mike tried to control the semi in his pants from fully growing out.

"Uhhh, I'm not perfect, El," Mike awkwardly chuckled.

"You are to me. Perfect hair, perfect face, perfect voice, perfect… penis. Mmmmm…"

Mike heard El getting horny over the walkie and his dick went fully hard. He had to go to bed.

"Shit, El. It's 3:00 AM and I need sleep. Tomorrow is Friday, which means we'll all be hanging out. We're gonna go to Dustin's house first. Not too bad, his mom is the only one that lives with him and she's pretty oblivious to everything so it shouldn't be a problem bringing you along."

"Mmmhmmm. Okay. Then what?" El wondered.

"Then I was thinking we could go to the junkyard and finish what we started…"

"You'll make me feel good?"

"... Yes."

"Can I kiss your penis and make you feel good, too?" El asked so innocently.

Mike came in his underwear right then and there, being so weak to her pretty voice. He was barely able to say what he wanted.

"Agghghahg. I don't know-Fuck. We'll-shit! We'll see uhhhhh- We'll see what happens, OK?"

"OK."

"Shit. I gotta go to bed now. Goodnight El, see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight, Mike."

El went to sleep with a wide smile on her face, happy to know Mike still wanted her.

Mike went to sleep feeling guilty for his recent actions. He felt so disgusted with himself. He wasn't ready for all of this. But El always made him do things he wouldn't normally do. And Mike was too weak to deny her, just like she was too weak without him.


	22. 21

**JANUARY 29 1985**

Mike barely got any sleep, waking up with morning wood and dealing with it in the shower. He thought about the late-night conversation with El too much, even in his sleep.

He went through the school day trying to focus on his classwork but her voice couldn't get out of his head.

_Can I kiss your penis?_

Mike picked up El after school as she got on the back of his bike. She straightened out her hair, looking more mature than her age. She wanted to look good for Mike and she did a good job. El had to put up with the clothes she had, not being able to choose her own, but it didn't bother her.

Mike started to prefer her hair straightened out than the curly hair. He couldn't even imagine her with normal length female hair or he might lose his mind.

They made it to Dustin's house and chilled on the couch with the rest of the gang, watching cheesy sitcoms, making witty remarks, and getting into nonsensical arguments to pass the time. Then two hours passed.

"This is dumb. I gotta get out of here and take a nap," Lucas said, standing up from the couch and stretching his body.

Max mocked Lucas and punched the side of his calf while he stretched.

"Poor baby needs a nap," Max said, snickering at the pain on Lucas' face from the punch.

Will stood up afterward.

"Yeah, I think I'll go too."

"Goddamnit, see what you did, Lucas?!" Dustin shouted in frustration.

"Me and El gotta go, too," Mike confessed, thinking now was the perfect opportunity to go to the junkyard.

"Motherfucker! Max?"

"Yeah, I'm not staying here with only you. God knows what you'll be up to."

Dustin flipped off Max before doing the same to everyone else.

"I'll just watch horror movies by myself," Dustin said.

"Yeah, don't shit your pants," Max replied.

It was almost completely dark outside when Mike and El made it to the junkyard. They got off his bike in a hurry as Mike tugged her along on the school bus before sitting down in the back seat.

They kissed each other's lips with so much teenage lust filling their minds. Mike adjusted her on his lap and planted kisses to her neck. She cupped his face as his lips and tongue dominated hers. He couldn't help but rub her back and explore further down.

It felt like heaven for both of them. Mike prepared in his mind for what was about to happen but that still didn't help calm the nerves. El loved kissing Mike's lips while opening her eyes for a split second just to see what reactions he made. Their recent conversation sent her over the edge as she saw it necessary to please Mike after all he's done for her.

El got on her knees, making quick work at unbuttoning his pants and sliding them down to his ankles. She still couldn't see his member through the underwear but the idea of revealing was incredibly hot to her.

Mike shivered from El's actions. He thought about this moment for months and now it was happening, and he wasn't ready. El's hands attempted to slide down his white underwear but Mike was too scared, he had to stop it. He grabbed her wrists, signaling for her to stop and look up at him.

"Wait."

"What?"

"Shouldn't I make you feel really good first?" Mike suggested, just trying anything to divert from her plans.

She giggled from how goofy he looked, his pupils dilating from fear of his girlfriend performing sexual acts on him. She shook her head no, softly kissing his thigh and slowly making her way down to his calf.

"You've done so much for me, Mike. Today, I want to show you my grati-tude. I want to show you how much you mean to me." El said while sounding sincere and innocent as ever, biting her lip as she gazed into Mike's eyes.

Mike swallowed and nodded his head, giving El permission to take off his underwear. Then he stopped her again. He just couldn't let her do it.

"Wait."

"What?!" El replied, starting to get irritated at Mike delaying what she wanted to do.

"Your hair is beautiful…."

The compliment was random but nice, and it seemed like something he would do, so she smiled.

"Thanks."

She went for his underwear once more and he grabbed her wrists again. El couldn't hold back her annoyance any longer.

"Mike!" El shouted, more annoyed than mad.

"Shit, El. I'm scared…"

"Why?"

"Because We shouldn't be doing this stuff. It was wrong of me to finger your vagina…"

"My pussy?"

Mike nodded his head unenthusiastically, cringing on the inside from hearing El say those dirty words.

"Yeah…"

"Why shouldn't we do this?" El asked, curious as to why it was so wrong.

Mike found it harder to explain the more he thought about it. There were some complications, his heart said that this was wrong, but his brain among other things gave him the opposite message. He loved her so much that he found doing sexual acts such as blowjobs and fingering were wrong and immoral to the things he was raised to believe, and he didn't want to treat El like a slut because she was perfect.

"El. I'm Catholic…"

"What is that?" El asked as her annoyance went away while trying to understand Mike's problem.

El stood up from her knees and gently sat down beside Mike, slowly massaging his arm because she could tell how tense he was.

"My religion. You know what religion is, right?"

"Sort of. Hopp said he's a Christian."

"Right. I'm a Christian too, except I'm Catholic. It's hard to explain and I don't feel like explaining it right now. All I'll say is that what I believe, God doesn't want us doing this adult stuff until we're married…"

"M-married?! Why?"

"As I said, it's complicated. You'd have to read the book to understand. But God doesn't want us having sex with a lot of people, he wants us to settle down with one person that we lo-"

Mike realized the words he was about to spew and instinctively stopped.

"I mean, he wants us to settle down and get married to the one person that we trust with all our heart."

El looked down at the seat in sadness, wondering why God wouldn't want her to make Mike happy and vice versa. But his explanation did create more ideas in her head.

"So let's get married," El casually said as she looked at Mike with a bright smile.

Mike blinked so fast it could probably be morse code. In utter shock, he couldn't help but stumble on his words. He secretly hoped that he'd marry El but he never thought in a million years that El would come out and ask for it. It made him rethink everything in a matter of seconds before his brain forced him to come back down to reality.

"What-I mean-huh? El-El, first of all, it doesn't work like that. We aren't old enough to get married, I think the requirement is like… 16. We still have a year…"

Mike took a deep breath before continuing.

"Secondly, what?! El, getting married is a serious thing! Why would you want to marry me?!" Mike stupidly asked.

She knew why she wanted to marry him. He was cute, smart, funny, charming, and dorky in the best way possible. He was every girl's dream husband. El had learned about marriage through her SOAPS and the idea of her and Mike getting married sent shivers down her spine.

Instead of answering with her voice, she answered with her mouth as she attacked his lips with hers, delicately sliding his tongue in his mouth and enjoying every second of it. Mike kissed back without a second thought, but it wasn't the kissing he was worried about.

She broke off the kiss and smiled at his stunned face that looked too goofy not to laugh at.

"Because you are… perfect, Michael Wheeler. You saved my life, you gave me a second chance. You understand me. I can't imagine living life… without you," El passionately said, then pecked his nose and innocently smiled at his bewildered expression.

"El. I - I don't know what to say…"

She brushed his hair out of his face and giggled before leaning into him.

"How about this. We get married as soon as possible."

"El!"

"I mean it. I want to spend my life with you, Mike" El said while cupping his face with both hands.

The more she talked about marriage, the more he agreed with her.

"We still can't do anything sexual," Mike reminded her.

"You already have," El replied after chuckling.

"That was one time!"Mike said in frustration as he held his index finger up.

"Mike, listen to me. Will you marry me when we're 16?"

Mike felt El's cold hands on his cheeks which wasn't helping his nerves. It was becoming difficult to swallow as he tried to reject the crazy notion of getting married at such a young age.

But his heart told him to say yes, and quite frankly, he wanted to scream yes.

"Yes," Mike shyly mumbled.

El squealed with excitement and continuously pecked him on the lips.

She got down on her knees again in front of Mike, massaging his legs.

"El, I need to say something before we do this…"

She remained silent while staring up into Mike's eyes.

"We have to promise… not only to each other but to God, that if we're going to do this, we can only do it with each other… and we have to get married when we can immediately. We aren't supposed to do most of this stuff period. Maybe he'll forgive us," Mike explained, feeling somewhat ashamed for even allowing this to continue.

"I wouldn't do this with anyone else," El replied in a sweet tone that made Mike's hard-on grow.

"I promise, Mike."

"I promise, too…"

They both nodded as El finally slid Mike's underwear down to his ankles. She was surprised to see him fully erect. She saw it once already but couldn't get over the size of his member, it was huge in proportion to his relatively skinny body frame.

El was scared to touch it at first as Mike sensed from her face that something wasn't right.

"El? You okay?"

"Yeah. It's just… so big. I don't - I don't want it to hurt me…"

That comment helped boost Mike's ego, he couldn't help but blush and laugh at her remark.

"It won't hurt you, trust me. Touch it…"

El reached her hand out slowly as if she were about to touch an electric fence. She firmly grasped his cock with her right hand, afraid to move, afraid to do anything without getting permission from Mike.

"Oh! Shit, El! That feels good. You can move your hand up and down on it and jerk me off… if you like?"

She was momentarily hypnotized by his cock while barely hearing Mike's voice in the background.

"Yeah. OK. Up and down…"

She took a deep breath before slowly moving her hand up and down his cock as he said. She could tell Mike was enjoying it with his little moans now and then. El didn't wanna go too fast and risk hurting Mike, and the fact that El slowly took her time jerking him off made him more turned on.

"Oh, yes!! That feels so good, baby," Mike moaned as he looked down into her puppy dog eyes before seeing her hand delicately jerking his cock.

The sight was unbelievable for him to fathom as he thought it had to be a dream, but it hit him that it was a reality when her hand kept sliding up and down his thick cock.

El's eyes got lost as she went from studying Mike's face during the pleasure to staring at his hard member as it throbbed in her hand. It was unlike anything she'd ever seen. She couldn't get over how big it was compared to the rest of his body. She wondered if this was how a normal penis looked, quickly imagining other boys like Will, Lucas, and Dustin with their penises before instantly washing away the dirty thoughts. Sex and everything that came with it was all so new to her. He hypnotized her, making all of her focus go to Mike's cock while she continuously stroked him without much thought.

Mike sat there, his eyes closed as he tried controlling what he considered to be embarrassing moans. Now and then he would glance down at his girlfriend who was entranced by his manhood and couldn't stop staring and stroking it until Mike's voice broke the spell cast upon her.

"El," Mike said, pretending to be calm and cool by horribly attempting to suppress his moans.

El shook her head and gasped as if Mike woke her from a deep sleep. She looked up at him, noticing he looked like a different person currently, and she guessed it had to be from the pleasure he was receiving from her.

"Yes?"

"Do you… wanna kiss it?"

Mike couldn't have sounded more nervous as he let out a slight moan when El didn't stop stroking his cock during their talk.

El glanced back and forth at Mike's face and the head of his meat stick. She completely forgot that she wanted to kiss hispeniswhen she whipped it out in amazement. But now that she had been reminded, she wanted to kiss it immediately.

"Yes. Please?"

"Go ahead," Mike replied and cleared his throat.

El leaned into his cock before lightly kissing the tip. Mike's legs shook at the sound and sensation of her lips making contact with his rod. It made her panic and look up at him because she thought it hurt him.

"Are you okay?" El asked, temporarily stopping the movement of her hand.

"Y-Y-yeah. It's good. Keep doing it, please?"

His words made her feel fuzzy inside as she smiled and nodded her head before continuing her stroking motion.

She added another hand to jerk him off. Her left hand was placed beneath her right as his cock was long enough that she could use both hands to pleasure him. Then she planted several kisses to his tip, each kiss making it harder for him to hide his moans while she increased her stroking speed.

"Oh. Shit. Shit. Yes! Keep kissing my cock!" Mike blurted out in pleasure, nearing his breaking point.

"Cock?" El said with confusion, taking a short break from kissing his tip.

"Uh, yeah. It's another word for penis. People usually say cock or dick instead of a penis…"

It felt weird for Mike to explain that but he had to get it out of the way.

"Oh. Cock. I like that. It sounds nice," El said while smiling at his cock before going back to making out with it.

As the minutes went by, El found herself experimenting in different ways to please Mike. She used her tongue to lip his dick in circles, still stroking it using both hands.

She took turns kissing and licking the tip, all while Mike lost his mind in pleasure he thought could never be achieved. It made Mike more carefree.

"You wanna put your mouth on it and suck it?" Mike asked, too horny and filled with sexual desire to even care about if that was too much.

"Suck it? Like… a lollipop?"

"Kinda. Just don't use your teeth, okay?"

El didn't waste time after nodding her head. She took her hands off of his dick and took him in her mouth, only being able to fit half of his meat stick. She gagged a little and realized her limit before getting in the groove. She listened to Mike, not using her teeth as she bobbed her head up and down his cock as it throbbed in her mouth.

Mike couldn't believe he hadn't cum yet, and he wouldn't last for much longer.

He put his hand on the back of her head, encouraging her to suck him off to the best of her ability. His moans were encouraging her enough as she carefully sucked his member because she was afraid of gagging.

"Ahhhh. Ooh yeah. Good girl - I mean… it feels good," Mike said, quickly catching himself, not wanting to sound like a douche.

El had an idea pop in her head. She could feel his cock throbbing, knowing he was about to orgasm like she did several days ago. As she ferociously sucked him off, she put her hands back on his cock and quickly jerked him off.

Mike saw her multi-tasking, her hands stroking him, her mouth engulfing him. He couldn't take it any longer.

"Shit! El! Move!" Mike shouted.

Mike lightly pushed El to the side before she got up from her knees. She watched as his cum splashed onto the backseat, jetstream after jetstream. She was amazed by the amount coming out.

"Is that…?"

Mike ran out of breath but slowly got his words out to a curious El.

"That's what happens when I orgasm. The white stuff comes out of my penis…"

"Cock?"

"Yeah. Cock."

Mike took a moment to rest and collect his thoughts. He got dressed and took El home on his bike. The ride was calmly silent as she rested her head over his shoulder.

It was dark when they arrived at the cabin. El got off his bike and turned to him.

"Mike."

"Yeah?"

"Was I good?"

Mike chuckled before nodding his head.

"El, you were amazing," Mike said as he reached out to brush her hair back, causing her to blush.

"Can I suck your cock tomorrow?" El asked innocently, making Mike instantly get a semi in his pants.

"Uh. El. We can't do that stuff. That was just a one-time thing."

"But-"

Mike stood up from his bike and comforted El by kissing her lips. She looked down at his crotch for a split second before returning her focus to his precious face.

"I know. The temptation is persistent. But we don't need to do that stuff, El."

"O-okay," El replied, a little disappointed.

He grabbed her chin before kissing her cheek.

"We're still gonna get married, right?" El asked.

"Yeah. As soon as we can. Let's not tell our parents, for now, don't want them going crazy."

El chuckled and smiled.

"Yeah."

"See ya tomorrow, El."

"See you tomorrow, Mike…"

Mike watched her walk into the cabin, absolutely upset with himself. As he rode back to his house, he realized how dumb and goofy he sounded. Of course, he didn't want her to stop giving him blowjobs. He was just conflicted, trying to be happy while being loyal to everyone and everything around him.

As El ate dinner and got ready for bed, she couldn't stop thinking about Mike's cock and the shape and size, the way it throbbed in her hands. As she eased herself to sleep, she thought about Mike's dick more than Mike himself. She became addicted.


End file.
